Double Dare
by totalizzyness
Summary: Draco Malfoy and childhood friend Lenore Page partake in a bet to woo the most unlikely people, but end up falling for their true felings. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**OC Info:**

Lenore Page:  
Long black wavy hair that goes to the middle of her black.  
Very pale skin - almost white.  
Dark brown eyes - almost look black.  
Naturally red lips.  
(Just think snow white)  
House: Ravenclaw  
Blood: Pure-blood

Tempest Reed:  
Shoulder length blonde hair.  
Quite pale, not exactly white.  
Deep blue eyes.  
Pink lips.  
House: Hufflepuff  
Blood: Half-blood

* * *

I hurried up the train; checking in every compartment for the Slytherins. Finally; I found them. Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle and Flint. I slipped into the room. Draco jumped up and hugged me tightly.

"Took your time!"

I laughed; "nice to see you too Draco"

He glared at Crabbe, making him move so I could sit down.

"So how was your summer?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Same old; you?"

"Can't complain; mum and dad pissed off to somewhere in Europe for two weeks"

"And you didn't invite me over why?"

He laughed; "because, he got fucking Fenrir to babysit me!"

"Ooh, nice, how was that?"

"Fucking scary! I was cowering under my covers every night, waiting for him to come and eat me!"

I laughed; he scowled at me.

"Sorry, but c'mon, your father wouldn't get him to babysit you if he knew he'd eat you"

He shrugged; "still!"

We chatted for a while longer until Draco pulled me out of the compartment; we wandered down the train.

"I have a little proposal for you"

"Yes, I will marry you!"

We burst out laughing.

"Nice try Lenore, but I'm not going to marry my oldest friend; actually, I thought we could make this year interesting"

"But every year's interesting!"

He smirked; "but this year, I propose we have a little bet?"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah; we both need to seduce someone unlikely"

"Oh dear...I'm not liking this"

"Oh c'mon it'll be funny! The winner gets...The other as a slave for the entire summer"

"Well, having you as my slave for six weeks may just sweeten the deal; so go on, who do I need to seduce"

"I was thinking...Professor-"

"-Oh god no! No one in authority!"

"C'mon! That's what makes it fucking hilarious!"

"And who will you be doing? Granger?"

"Perhaps"

I laughed; "that's just betting on a lame horse! She would never fall for you, no matter what you did, and spells and potions aren't allowed!"

He nodded; "fine, you pick someone for me, but I say you need to do...Professor...Snape!"

My jaw almost hit the floor.

"You're, fucking, kidding me right?"

"No! And you've got to! It's unfair if you don't!"

"Fine, you can do McGonagall"

"Seriously! I'm not going anywhere near that old hag"

"And what makes you think I want to seduce your head of house?"

"Because I know you fancy him!"

"I do not!"

"Do too! I read your diary! You said you had the slightest school girl crush on him"

"That was two years ago!"

"So? Go on! It'll be funny!"

I sighed; "fine, but you've got to seduce...Tempest Reed!"

"..."Who?"

"Think, Loony Lovegood, just more...Sane"

"What?"

"She's in Hufflepuff, and she's like, a total hippy!"

"Hippy? No way!"

"I'm doing Snape! You're doing her!"

He sighed; "fine"

We shook hands.

"Just...One problem, I've never met her"

I laughed; "come with me"

I led him down the train, looking for Tempest. I finally found her sat with Luna and some other Hufflepuffs. I went into their compartment.

"Hey Tempest, how was your summer"

She smiled; "it was amazing; I spent all of it camping out in the wilderness with some gypsies"

"Nice...You know Draco Malfoy right?" I said, pulling him into the compartment. She smiled still.

"I've come across him"

I elbowed him in the chest; he coughed.

"Uh, nice to meet you properly" he said as politely as he could. They smiled at each other, Draco's more forced than natural obviously,

"Anyway, see you at Hogwarts?"

She nodded; I dragged Malfoy back up the train.

"Gypsies? What the hell! She looks like she made her clothes herself!"

I laughed; "she did"

"Eurgh!"

We went back to our compartment.

At Hogwarts I sat with my few Ravenclaw friends; twins Jade and Ruby Denton and Celeste Wilde. We sat catching up until the first years came in to be sorted. I looked up at the staff table and saw Snape. I sighed at my task for the next year; his emotionless face hinted that it would incredibly difficult. The Slytherin table was on the opposite side of the hall. I looked over and saw Draco. He winked at me then nodded in Snapes direction. I mouthed "Tempest" at him, he shuddered. I laughed. Ruby elbowed me.

"What's funny?"

I shook my head; "nothing, just Draco"

She nodded and went back to watching the ceremony. I sat thinking about possible seduction tactics. After all the first years had been sorted and Dumbledore made his speech, food appeared. We sat discussing the upcoming year and all kind of plans. When I finished eating I looked around. I noticed Snape get up and leave the staff table; I got up too, deciding to start as early as possible. I walked quickly through the corridors hoping to bump into him; though not as literally as I did. I fell to the floor. Snape looked down at me; looking almost embarrassed for me.

"Watch where you're walking Page"

I nodded and went to get up when he offered me a hand. I took it and straightened myself out.

"Sorry Professor"

"Good night"

I smiled; "good night"

We both went in our separate directions. Even though I wasn't in Slytherin, he still liked me as if I were one; being Dracos best friend helped a lot. I looked behind me, all I saw was his billowing cape disappear round the corner. I grinned to myself and almost skipped to the Ravenclaw common room.

The next morning I went to the Great Hall with Celeste. We sat arguing over what goes with toast better when the owls came with our timetables and any other letters. I pulled my timetable out of the envelope; first thing that morning was double Potions with the Slytherins. I smirked. Celeste leant over.

"Double Potions? Eurgh, poor you"

I laughed; "I like Potions"

"...You freak!"

I laughed and looked at her timetable.

"Care of Magical Creatures? You're taking that?"

"Yeah! I told you! I want to look after animals!"

"Oh yeah, fair enough"

I looked up to see Draco, Crabbe and Goyle saunter into the Great Hall. Draco grabbed his post then came over to me.

"Morning"

I smirked and took a bite out of my toast.

"You got double Potions first?"

I nodded; "I do"

He smirked too; "great, that means I can watch you seduce him"

Celeste leant in; "seduce who?"

"Our very own Severus Snape"

She pulled a face; "you are gross"

I laughed; "I don't want to! It's a bet! He has to seduce Tempest Reed"

She burst out laughing.

"Oh wow really? Good luck with that!"

Draco sighed and helped himself to some toast. We sat chatting until it was time for lessons. I sat at the front with Draco. He sighed.

"Why are we at the front? I hate it at the front!"

I rolled my eyes; "how am I supposed to seduce him if he doesn't even see me? From here I can wink at him and whatnot"

He laughed; "you're taking this very seriously aren't you"

"Definitely! There's a chance I could watch you mowing my lawn in hotpants!"

"What!"

"Oh yeah, you'd better hope you win!"

He cringed and looked at the front. Just then Snape burst in and hurried up to the front. He looked confoundedly at Draco and I but preceded with his beginning of the year speech.

"Today you'll be making Draught of Living Death; turn to page ten and begin"

Everyone hurried to begin their potion, too afraid of the consequences. Before we could begin Snape came over to us.

"How nice to see you sat at the front and paying attention; may I ask what is with the sudden change?"

Draco looked at me; leaving the lying up to me.

"Well, uh, we thought, seeing as it's sixth year and we have out NEWTs, we can't just, mess about"

He nodded sceptically and took my Advanced Potions book. He looked over some of the things before taking it to his desk. I watched him begin scribbling things on the paper. Draco and I looked at each other.

"What the hell's he doing?" Draco asked. I shrugged. Snape came back and passed me my book back.

"Carry on"

He wandered off around the classroom. I turned to page ten. He'd scribbled things out and corrected everything that was wrong. Draco peered over my shoulder.

"Ahh, so this way we'll be the only ones doing it right?"

I shrugged; "I guess so"

"...Goddamn you're going to win this dare thing! He loves you!"

I laughed and began making the potion.

At the end of the lesson Snape tested all our potions; obviously Draco and I were the only ones who'd gotten it right.

"Well done to Mr Malfoy and Miss Page; the rest of you will write up an essay on what you did wrong! Class dismissed"

Everyone groaned and packed their things away before leaving. I lingered until everyone had gone; Draco was waiting outside.

"Professor?"

"What is it Miss Page?"

"Can I ask; why did you correct the mistakes in my book?"

He stopped gathering up left-over ingredients and looked at me.

"Because you have a natural talent for Potion making; it'd be a shame to see that talent go to waste because of incompetent publishers"

I nodded; "but why only mine?"

"I can see you taking Potions to a higher level; much more than just your NEWTs, I don't see that with anyone else"

"Not even Granger?"

"The little know-it-all can correct her own mistakes"

I smiled; "oh, okay, well, uh, bye?"

"Good day"

I rushed out of the classroom. Draco ran after me.

"So? So? Why did he correct your book?"

"Because he can see me doing well in Potions, and no one else, he doesn't want my natural talent to go to waste"

He laughed; "whatever!"


	2. Chapter 2

I was sat outside in the courtyard with Draco and Celeste; chatting about mine and Dracos bet when Tempest walked by. I jumped up and ran over to her.

"Hey Tempest; uh, you wanna sit with us?"

She looked over at Draco and Celeste then shrugged.

"Sure"

I smirked at Draco and made her sit in between us. We got chatting about lessons and life in general.

"I have that essay to do for Potions" she sighed.

"Hey, Draco and I got it right, we could help you" I said. She looked up and smiled.

"Could you? I'd be awfully grateful!"

"Well to be honest, I'm kinda busy, but Draco has all the time in the world"

She smiled at Draco.

"Would you help me?"

He shrugged; "sure"

"Thank you!"

"Ooh, speaking of busy, we've got to go" I said standing up. She nodded.

"Shall I meet you in the library after dinner?" she asked. Draco nodded.

"Yeah"

I pulled Draco off down the corridors. He stopped us and looked at me scpetically.

"Why are you helping me?"

I laughed; "I'm giving you a head start before I whoop your ass!"

He laughed too.

"Bring it on Page!"

"Oh and by the way..."

"Yeah?"

I punched him in the shoulder; "you're it!"

I laughed and ran off down the corridor. I heard him shout a few obscenities and chase after me. I ducked down a corridor leading to the dungeons as he gained on me. Just then I saw Snape walking down the corridor; I stopped abruptly, not wanting him to give me detention. Malfoy shot round the corner and ran full pelt into me, sending us to the floor, laughing as if we'd been slipped a giggling potion. Snape spun round and approached us.

"What, are you two doing?"

We looked up and grinned.

"He ran into me Professor" I said. He shook his head.

"Get up"

He offered a hand; I took it, he pulled me a bit harder than he meant to, making me fall into him.

"Oh, sorry Professor" I said straightening myself out, smirking at him. He just nodded. Malfoy was up and smirking at us. Snape looked at us both analytically.

"So what's going on? Why were you running"

"We were playing tag" Draco replied.

"Why were you playing that? IN the corridors?"

"She started it!" he said pointing at me "she just punched me, said I'm it then ran"

"You didn't have to play" I chipped in.

"I'm not letting you win again!"

"You never let me win, I'm just better than you!"

"Oh whatever!"

"Silence!"

We'd forgotten Snape was there; we looked up at him.

"Sorry sir" we said in canon. He sighed.

"What lessons do you both have next?"

"I have a free period" I said. He nodded. Draco pulled his scrunched up timetable out of his pocket.

"Uhm, Divination"

"Shouldn't you be getting a move on then Mr Malfoy? You have to get up all those stairs"

Draco sighed and nodded; "I guess so"

"Miss Page; would you be so kind as to assist me in my class this afternoon?"

I looked at Draco to check that I hadn't dreamt.

"Me?"

"Yes you"

"Uh, yeah, sure"

"Good"

He looked at Malfoy; Draco quickly realised why and ran off down the corridor.

"No running Malfoy!"

Draco slowed down to a very quick walk. I laughed to myself. Snape looked at me.

"Follow me then"

I followed him as he strode off to his classroom. He stood behind his desk and motioned me over. He charmed a chair to appear next to his. We sat down.

"Do you have your Advanced Potions book with you?"

"Yeah..."

I pulled it out of my bag and passed it to him. He flicked through it, grumbling at every page.

"How anyone is supposed to pass with resources like this is beyond me"

I smiled; knowing this was essential time to try to get Snape to like me.

"Isn't that just the curriculum though sir? Won't what's in the book be on the exam?"

"The curriculum is 50% theory and 50% practical; with resources like this you'll only be able to pass one and not the other; barely scraping an A if you're good"

I nodded; "does the ministry know?"

"Yes"

I looked at him confoundedly.

"So, they know but they're just ignoring it?"

He nodded and started scribbling notes in my book. I smiled; watching him work.

"Uh, can I ask why you want me to help?"

"As I said; you're particularly gifted at Potions; and first years are always much more hassle than any other year; it's difficult to keep them all in order" he replied, not even looking up from my book.

"...Ok, fair enough"

He carried on rewriting the notes in my book until first years began arriving. I sat at his desk as he gave his first year speech. I sat reminiscing about my first year and my first Potions lesson. I was one of the few that weren't frightened by his icy demeanour. As I watched him explain what the students were to expect in their Potions lessons, I got a familiar feeling; my school-girl crush was coming back. Goddamn fate! Finally he set the students off making one of the most simplest potions ever. Snape came over to me.

"Wait now for at least one of them to mess this up"

I smiled. Just the a hand shot up. Snape sighed.

"What is it Mr Bennet?"

"I was just wondering who that was?" he asked; pointing at me. Snape looked at me then back at the class.

"This is a Miss Lenore Page, a sixth year in Ravenclaw and will be here to assist me on Mondays afternoon lessons"

The class nodded and went back to their work.

"Whoa, when did I consent to that?" I asked quietly. He smirked.

"Since when did I need your permission?"

"Maybe I need that free period"

"Do you?"

"...No, it's just nice to be consulted on these things!"

He smirked again.

"Ok; have it your way. Miss Page would you please assist me in this lesson every Monday afternoon?"

I smirked too; "I'd be happy to"

He shook his head playfully and set off on his rounds of the class to check everyone was doing their potion correctly. I looked at my copy of Advanced Potions and all the corrections Snape had made. I slowly stopped looking at what he'd written and began staring at his handwriting. I'd always liked his writing; it was flawlessly elegant. Cursive scripture, much more pleasing on the eyes than the usual scrawl that was crudely engraved onto paper. Just then my light was shadowed. I looked up; Snape was stood in front of me.

"Studying all ready?"

"Uh...Yes and no"

"Yes and no?"

"I was; then I got distracted by your handwriting"

"...My handwriting?"

"Yeah...Uh...I just really like it; it's all neat and stuff...Not sure why I'm telling you this, but any feedback you gave me on my papers, I tried to copy your handwriting because I like it so much"

He smirked; "is that a compliment?"

"...I think so"

He looked round at the class once more before sitting next to me.

"Well, do you not practise your handwriting?"

"Does it make me lame if I do?"

He chuckled and shook his head; "certainly not"

I sat in total awe that I'd managed to make Professor Snape, the most feared and evil teacher in Hogwarts, laugh! Almost. He took my book back off me and continued correcting things. I sat watching him happily; seeing him scribble down his notes so quickly and easily, yet so neatly. He smirked, knowing I was watching him. He suddenly stopped; picked up a piece of parchment and wrote the alphabet down, upper and lower case, and a sentence using all the letters.

"Here, your lines for today"

I laughed quietly to myself.

"Lines for what?"

"Running in the corridors"

"So my punishment is to practise my handwriting? Well, your handwriting?"

He nodded; "better get started"

I smirked and pulled a blank journal for quick notes out of my bag and began copying down the alphabet.

At the end of the lesson Snape inspected my attempts to copy his handwriting. He nodded in approval.

"Very good; you've nearly got it"

I smirked; "thank you Professor; I'll practise it all night"

He shook his head playfully and handed me my book.

"I've corrected everything for you"

I smiled and put it in my bag.

"Uh, I'll see you at dinner"

He nodded and watched me walk out. I ran up to the common room so I could put my things away and get changed before going to find Draco. I found him wandering down to the dungeons. He saw me and collapsed in my arms.

"I hate Divination!"

I laughed and propped him up against the wall.

"Then why did you take it?"

"I needed another one"

I rolled my eyes and took his bag. We started walking down to the Slytherin common room.

"So how did your lesson with Snape go"

I smirked; "pretty damn good! I've been signed up to help out every Monday"

"This is so not fair! You're going to win"

I laughed; "and what's worse is my crush has come back"

He burst out laughing.

"Oh my God! Awesome! I don't care if I loose now! This is going to be fantastic!"

I laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Thank you Draco"

"No problemo, how much flirting did you do?"

I shrugged; "enough for him to flirt back"

He stopped walked and looked at me; dumbfounded.

"He flirted back?"

"Uh...Yeah"

"Oh...Merlins...Beard!"

I laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him back down the corridor.

"It was nothing major really...But I made him laugh"

He stopped again; "what!"

"Come on!" I said dragging him down the corridor to the Slytherin common room. I waited outside whilst he got changed. Snape walked down the corridor. He stopped when he saw me.

"Waiting for Malfoy?"

I shook my head; "nahh, I just like standing here, my greatest ambition is to become a suit or armour"

He chuckled and shook his head playfully.

"Pedantic swine"

I grinned; "sorry, but you walked into that one"

He nodded acceptingly.

"I guess I did"

Just then Draco came out of the common room. He grinned when he saw Snape and I. Before he could say anything Snape nodded and hurried off up the corridor. Draco elbowed me and smirked. I laughed and walked up the corridor; Draco ran after me.


	3. Chapter 3

I was lay on the Ravenclaw sofa watching the fire whilst Ruby and Jade yabbered on about how cute Fred and George were. Today they were on about how cute their twin babies would be. Just then Celeste came in and moved my feet so she could sit down.

"Why are you here? Not hanging with Draco?" she asked mockingly. I laughed and shook my head.

"He's seducing Tempest"

She cringed and laughed; "I still can't believe you two and doing that! You're just disgusting! Tempest isn't that bad I guess, but Snape? Eww!"

I laughed and shrugged; "he's nice"

She looked at me sceptically.

"Did you bang your head during the summer?"

I laughed and sat up; "I like him okay?"

"Ok...It's one thing to be doing this as a dare, but to actually like him and WANT to seduce him? You, my dear, are SICK!"

I looked over at Ruby and Jade; they hadn't noticed our conversation and were discussing baby names.

"Oh well...It's not that bad really...It's better than fancying someone like...Say, Neville?"

"Shut up! He's cute and in our year!"

"It's Neville Longbottem! He's gross!"

"What ever! Anything's better than Snape!"

"Dumbledore, Hagrid, Flitwick...Yeah, sure! At least he's not a billion and has a beard!"

She laughed; "touché, but still, it's Snape"

"Not shit Sherlock! Jesus Christ, I hadn't realised!"

She glared at me; "if you want my help you'd better be nice to me"

I laughed; "your help? Doing what?"

"I was thinking...I slip a love potion into your drink; when Snapes watching, so he has to give you the antidote whilst your slithering all over him; hopefully invoking some feelings of his own!"

I grinned; "awesome! Only, we can't use potions or spells"

"On the victims...But what about on yourselves?"

"Sometimes, I wonder why you're not in Slytherin"

She laughed; "so, you like my plan then?"

"Yeah! God it'll be funny"

"I know, I just wish I could watch"

"I know, it's a pity...When do you feel like slipping me some Amortentia?"

She shrugged; "probably best to do it when you've hung out with Snape a bit more"

"Sure thing"

The next morning I dived on Draco.

"How did your date go?"

He cringed; "awful! She's a freak! After I helped her do her homework, she got this book out on some random animal, and she just chats on and on! And her voice is annoying, and so's her giggle, and so's hi Tempest!"

I spun round; Tempest was coming over. I laughed at Draco's forced smile.

"Hey Tempest, how did your little homework session go?"

She smiled; "it was fun, you're very sweet Draco; thank you for walking me back to my common room"

Draco was still smiling; "it's no problem, like I said, you wouldn't get into as much trouble with Snape if you're with me"

"What time did you leave the library?" I asked.

"We kind of got caught up I =n our conversation and were fifteen minutes past curfew"

"Ahh, it went THAT well did it?"

She smiled again before skipping over to her friends. Draco's face went back to his scowl. I laughed and pushed him playfully.

"I thought you said it was horrible! You spent over two hours together?"

"I couldn't get her to shut up! Everytime I went to suggest we go back she started another conversation! We only left because her watch – which is fifteen minutes wrong! - went off"

I laughed; "aww, have fun with her Draco, she's special"

He glared at me as I went over to the Ravenclaw table. Celeste was trying to ignore Jade and Ruby. I laughed and sat down.

"Good morning!" I sang. She glared at me.

"How could you leave me with those two?"

"I went to check up on Draco! He had fun last night! They stayed out till past curfew"

She laughed; "really? Does he hate her?"

"Oh God yes!"

Just then Jade and Ruby went silent; we looked at them, their heads her following the movement of Fred and George. Celeste and I laughed.

"Why don't you go speak to them?" I suggested.

"And say what?" Ruby asked.

"Say, you want to prank someone and thought you'd better go to the masters; they'll be flattered"

They looked at each other.

"But who could we prank?"

I looked round; "Crabbe and Goyle?"

They grinned and began giggling to themselves about what to say.

"Oh nice one Lenore! Just set them off again!"

I laughed; "leave them be, now I need to set you and Neville up"

"Oh no! Don't you dare!"

"Why? I thought you liked him!"

"I do, but, I'd just get so much stick!"

"Nahh, I'll smooth Draco over, and the Gryffindors won't mind...It'll be fine"

She sighed and picked up some toast. After breakfast, we had DADA with Hufflepuff. I ditched Celeste to sit with Tempest. It didn't take long for us to start talking about Draco.

"I don't know...I think he's a bit, snobbish? You know?"

"Yeah...He's nice really..."

"I can see he is, I just don't think he realises the beauty of nature"

I nodded; "I can pass these messages on if you want-"

"-Oh no please don't"

"I'll keep it anonymous; y'know, tell him 'I think you need to get mucky now and then' ...y'know?"

She nodded; "you'd do that?"

"Yeah! I think you and Draco would be an adorable couple"

She smiled; "thank you"

I smirked to myself and decided to make a start on the work.

After lesson I ran to meet up with Draco. I told him everything Tempest and I had said in lesson. He pulled a face and began walking out to the courtyard.

"I'm fine the way I am, I'm not becoming nature boy!"

I laughed; "if you want to win this bet you're going to have to"

"Why are you trying to help me win this bet? Surely you should be telling her I'm an evil prick and want to kill every living thing"

"Because...This is more than just a bet, this is character building, I'm turning you into a nicer person! Plus, all I need to do to seduce Snape is wear next to nothing and lie on his desk"

He sighed and glared at me; "that's cheating"

I laughed; "how?"

He shrugged; "I don't know!"

"Well, I also happen to think that if you dated Tempest, it'd be so cute!"

He gagged; "you are gross! You fancy Snape and think I'd look good with Tempest?"

I rolled my eyes; "why does everyone think I'm insane for liking Snape?"

"Because; it's SNAPE!"

"Well done Mr Malfoy, I can see your observational skills are very good"

We span round, Snape was approaching us. I laughed at how weird it was Malfoy shouting Snape and him appearing.

"Good morning Professor" I said sweetly. He nodded.

"Morning Miss Page; Malfoy, a word?"

Draco nodded and walked off with Snape. I grinned to myself and skipped off to find Celeste. She was sat in the library with the twins.

"Thanks for ditching me in DADA!"

"Sorry, official bet business!"

She rolled her eyes; "so how's it going with Severus?"

I shrugged; "nothing special yet"

She smirked; "wait until I poison you"

I laughed; "you make it sound so sinister!"

"Well, what ever!"

Last lesson was Potions. All the people that had made Draught of Living Death wrong had to do it again; Draco and I just had to copy up notes. Snape was sat at his desk, marking papers. I stopped working and started watching him, until Draco elbowed me.

"Stop day dreaming you freak!"

I laughed and got back to work.

"Like I can help it!"

"It's unnatural!"

"It was your idea!"

He went to say something but didn't.

"Is something wrong?" Snape asked. We looked up and shook our heads.

"No sir" Draco replied.

"Well then I see no need for talking, do you?"

We nodded and got back to work. It only took me another five minutes to finish my notes so I decided to practise Snapes handwriting again. I turned to the back of the book where I'd started yesterday. Draco looked over.

"What the hell are you doing?" he whispered. I smirked.

"Snape gave me his handwriting to copy yesterday"

"...Why?"

"Told him I liked his handwriting; so he thought he'd be nice"

"Right then, whatever"

I smirked and carried on writing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Snape get up to check everyone's potions were going properly. After giving someone abuse for doing it wrong again he came over to me and Malfoy.

"Finished your notes yet?"

Draco shook his head. He looked over at me and saw me copying his handwriting.

"And have we finished?"

I nodded; "yeah"

He held his hand out. I turned my journal to where I'd written them and passed it to him. He nodded after glancing over it. He turned to the back where I'd been doing my handwriting. He passed it back and nodded.

"Very good; and your handwriting is improving"

"Thank you Professor"

"Malfoy, get a move on will you?"

Draco sighed and hurried his writing. Snape and I glanced at each other before he went back to his desk. I smirked; Draco glared at me and elbowed me. I laughed to myself and carried on doodling and writing. Every time I glanced up at Snape he seemed to be looking in my direction. I smiled at him; he quickly got back on with his work. I giggled quietly to myself and looked at Draco who was looking at me worriedly.

"...What?"

He shook his head and sighed; "oh dear"

He got back to his work. I laughed again.

"Seriously; what?"

"Doesn't matter"

I rolled my eyes and got back to my work.

After lesson Draco and I wandered around the school grounds with Celeste and Blaise.

"I was hanging out with Tempest earlier" Celeste said; grinning. Draco groaned and looked away. Blaise and I grinned too.

"Oh really? Did she talk about anyone in particular?" I asked.

"Oh she did!"

Draco glared at us.

"I'm quite happy now to just call the bet off; but I so want to see you getting it off with Snape"

Blaise and Celeste looked at him as if he'd just turned into a Pygmy Puff.

"If I saw that I'd have nightmares for eternity!" Blaise said. Draco and I laughed. Celeste nodded.

"It would incredibly disturbing!"

I shrugged; "whatever, it's gonna be fun"

"Y'know what...I refuse to associate with you two for the duration of this dare! I'm going to need therapy!"

We all laughed.

"If you avoid me I won't play love doctor with you and Neville"

Draco and Blaise looked at us both.

"Longbottom? You like Longbottom?" Draco asked. Celeste glared at me.

"Yeah, and don't laugh it's sweet! And anyway, you fancy Tempest"

"I do not!"

He began walking off. I laughed and ran to catch up with him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world..."

I sat copying up all my notes on love potions; so Celeste could help me win the bet. After Snape had finished dictating all the information; he set us off on an essay about them. He began wandering round the class, hitting people round the head who were talking.

"Uh, sir?" I asked quietly. He looked over.

"Yes?"

"You know how Amortentia makes the person fall in love with whoever supplied the potion...Is there a potion which makes the person fall in love with whoever they see first?"

"Yes...It's further on in the book; may I enquire as to why you want to know?"

I shrugged and smiled innocently; "just wondering"

He looked at me sceptically and carried on round the class. I smirked to myself and skipped through my potions book until I found the potion. I scribbled everything down before carrying on with my essay.

After the lesson I ran to meet Celeste. I thrust my notes into her hand.

"Here's the potion you want"

She looked over the notes and grinned.

"Epic...You'll need to make it and give me some...Then I'll slip it to you when Snape's looking..."

"Yup...Now I just need to think up a cover story for why I have it in the first place"

We nodded. Just then Draco came over.

"What are you two giggling about?"

"Love potions" Celeste replied. He looked at me.

"That's cheating! You're not allowed yo give Snape a love potion!"

Celeste and I grinned.

"It's not Snape who's taking it"

He looked at me sceptically; "...Ok?"

I laughed to myself and put my notes away. Just then I noticed Tempest wander outside and sit by a tree. I kicked Malfoy and nodded at her. He sighed and went over. Celeste and I laughed.

"So, spoken to Neville yet?"

She shook her head; "not out of Herbology"

"Ask him for Herbology help, it worked for Tempest"

She laughed; "I may just do that"

"And there's the Halloween dance soon! Get him to go with you"

"Uhh, I dunno"

"Go on! It's not like he's going with anyone else!"

She laughed again; "ok...And what about you? You gonna ask Snape?"

"Oh totally!"

We laughed and looked back over at Malfoy. He had his arm over her shoulders and was describing something.

Luckily, my next Potions lesson we made the love potion Celeste and I needed instead of Amortentia.

"Sir, why aren't we making Amortentia?" someone asked. He sighed.

"It's too powerful, I don't want you cretins taking it and slipping it to your friends, the consequences are too frustrating to deal with"

"...So we can take this one instead sir?"

"Well, unlike the other one; this one wears off after several hours"

We all got to work. I was the first to finish. Snape came over and tested it.

"Perfect...As usual"

I smirked as he walked off. I pulled out a small vial and kept some.

"Tut tut, stealing potion are we?" Draco asked quietly. I smirked.

"You'll love what I do with it"

"Oh God, what?"

"I'm not saying, just wait and see"

He sighed and carried on with his.

After lesson I dived on Celeste in the Great Hall. I handed her the vial.

"Here you go"

She grinned; "awesome! Now I jut need to think of when to slip it you"

"Obviously some time that Snape's around"

"I could give it you, then you only drink it when he comes over"

"...That could be a plan..."

We high-fived. Just then Neville came over, blushing furiously. He held out a quill.

"You uh...You...You forgot this"

Celeste smiled and took it; "thank you Neville"

He nodded and scurried off. I elbowed her. She sighed.

"Actually Neville!..."

She ran after him. I grinned to myself and wandered round looking for someone. Jade and Ruby were sat on a staircase with the Weasley twins planning pranks, all flirting outrageously. I wandered around the corridors bored. Just then I bumped into Snape.

"Alone Miss Page?"

I nodded; "all my friends are shacked up with possible lovers"

"And we aren't?"

"No, we aren't interested in the boys at this school"

"And why aren't we?"

I giggled at how random this conversation was; and why I was discussing my love life with Snape.

"Because, we think the boys at this school are too immature to have any form of relationship with anyone"

"How very true. You'd do well to stay away from boys"

"Yup...Men are better anyway"

Before he could reply I smirked and skipped off down the corridor. I quickly glanced over my shoulder; he was stood staring at me. I grinned to myself and decided to go to the common room. Eventually Celeste wandered in with a huge grin on her face.

"Someone's happy"

She giggled; "someone has a study date with Neville Longbottom tomorrow"

I laughed; "go you!"

"Yup...Anyway...See Snape?"

"I did! And I kinda...I dunno..."

"Explain!"

I laughed; "I passed him on the corridor and he asked why I was alone; so I was like, well, all my friends are with potential lovers, and he asked why I'm single, so I said all the boys are immature; to which he said, you'd do well to stay away from boys, and I was just like; yeah, men are better! And I skipped off before he could reply...And he watched me all down the corridor"

She burst out laughing; "oh my God no way! That's like, the best way to get him to like you!"

I laughed; "I wonder how Draco and Tempest are getting on"

"You're going to win, even if Tempest does like Draco, he's too, snobbish to actually finish the job"

"Yeah, but he's got a head start! She likes him! Snape's a total mystery!"

"Any guy that flirts and stares has a crush!"

"...Snape"

She nodded; "true...But still, he's human...Right? He is human isn't he?"

I laughed; "yes!"

"Well there you go!"

At dinner I was watching Snape to make sure he was looking in my direction. Finally I caught him.

"He's looking"

Celeste grinned and emptied the vial of potion into my drink. I saw his expression change. I smirked and looked away.

"Did he see?"

I nodded and ate a bit of something. After a while Snape came over.

"I wish to speak with you"

I nodded; drank my drink and followed him. He shook his head; knowing there was some kind of poison in my drink. I felt the effects immediately. I grabbed his arm and clung onto him. He looked won at me.

"What're you doing?"

I smiled innocently; "nothing, I just want to be close to you"

He sighed; knowing what potion it was. He pulled his arm out of my grip and carried on walking. I jogged to catch up with him and grabbed his hand, holding onto it tightly so he couldn't pull out. He shook his head and dragged me to his office; hoping no one would see. We got to his office.

"Sit down"

He rushed over to his stores. I grinned to myself and and danced over to his desk. I sat on it and looked round. He came back sighed.

"Off the desk"

I just grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and got to work making an antidote. Whist he watched it simmer I randomly hugged him.

"Let go of me"

Instead I just snuggled up to him, burying my face into his chest.

"It's very difficult for me to make this antidote whilst you're hugging me"

"Then don't; hug me back"

I looked up at him, he seemed to contemplate it for a moment before shaking his head.

"Let go of me"

I sighed and let go. He added a few more ingredients and left it to simmer again. I exhaled loudly and looked round.

"Bored are we?"

"Very...Entertain me?"

"I'm busy"

"No you're not, you're looking a cauldron of stuff"

"I need to look at it or else it'll go wrong"

I grabbed his arm and made him look at me. He looked at me questioningly. I shrugged innocently and looked directly into his eyes. He looked extremely confused. I suddenly grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Surprisingly he didn't pull away. I felt a hand rest on my waist. Just then he pushed me away. He looked back at his potion and began adding things. I smirked. He poured some of the antidote into a glass and handed it me.

"Drink this"

I drank the disgusting tasting liquid and felt the effects of extreme love drain away. Snape was stood watching me; looking embarrassed.

"...Uh...What's going on?"

He shook his head; "your friend slipped you a love potion"

"...Oh..."

Unfortunately I couldn't remember what happened whilst on the potion.

"May I ask how she got some? Amazing considering she doesn't do Potions"

"Well, uh, I took some before, we were going to give it Draco as a laugh; she must have given it me instead"

"Why would you want to be giving it Malfoy?"

"We've got this bet that he can't get Tempest Reed to fall for him...Well, she likes him, he just doesn't like her...So...Yeah"

He nodded; "quite foolish; I'm going to have to give you detention. You may go"

I nodded; "ok...And uh...I didn't do anything embarrassing did I?"

He paused before shaking his head; "no"

I nodded again and left. I ran up the corridors to find Celeste. She was in the common room chatting to the twins. She jumped up when she saw me.

"So? What happened?"

I flopped down on the sofa; "I can't remember"

She flopped down next to me; "bummer"

"Can't remember what?" the twins asked.

"I gave her some love potion so she'd come onto Snape...She can't remember what happened"

"Ahh"

"Why don't you use that memory charm thing we learnt in DADA?"

Celeste and I looked at each other before rushing up to the bedrooms. I grabbed my DADA book and flicked through. We found it.

"You'd better get this right! I don't want to die or turn into a beetle!"

She laughed and rehearsed the incantation before pointing her wand at me. She did the charm and the memory from earlier appeared like a screen in front of us. We laughed as we watched the flashback of me grabbing his arm and hand.

"Aww, he didn't let go!"

"He couldn't!"

The memory went on; there was a long boring part where I was just looking at him dreamily. I hugged him. Celeste and I burst out laughing.

"Aww look! He wants to hug you back!"

I grinned. Our jaws literally dropped when I kissed him.

"Oh my god girl! Get in there!"

"He's not pulling away!"

"He loves you!"

Finally the memory ended. Celeste looked at me and grinned.

"...Wow! Is all I can say"

"...He said I didn't do anything embarrassing"

"He either didn't want to embarrass you; knowing no one would find out, or, doesn't want to think about it, OR, the more probable answer, he loved every minute and doesn't want you to know!"

I laughed to myself and lay down.

"I think I've just got a leg up in the competition"

"And soon Snape will have his leg up on you"

I laughed and hit her playfully.

"How long before Neville gets his?"

"Shut up!"

I grinned and stared at the ceiling.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day I was sat outside with Celeste and Draco. Celeste and I were informing Draco about the previous day's events. He obviously found them as funny as we did.

"I still can't believe you kissed him!"

I laughed; "technically I didn't, the potion did"

"Whatever! Your lips locked with his, you kissed him!"

"You should have seen it! It was amazing! He was going to kiss back until he remembered he couldn't!" Celeste said grinning.

"What? No way! I can't believe you may actually win this!"

I smirked; "I have detention tonight with him too!"

"Aww! No way! This is so unfair!"

"What? Tempest loves you! All you have to do is go for her!"

"I don't want to! She's a freak!"

"That's horrible! She's lovely!"

"Hey Lenore, remember to grill Snapey on why he lied to you!"

I laughed; "Snapey?"

Celeste grinned and winked. I shook my head and looked at Draco.

"Anyway, when's our study date with a certain Herbology master?"

Celeste grinned; "this evening"

"I still can't believe you fancy that oaf!" Draco said. She shrugged.

"Whatever Malfoy, he's sweet!"

"Sweet? He's a walking disaster! Everything he touches breaks, everything he attempts he fails, he can't do anything right!"

"He's a sweet, caring individual! He'd do anything he could to help those he loves and wouldn't hurt a fly! Which is much more than can be said for you Malfoy! I hope Tempest gets out before it's too late!"

She jumped up and went to storm off when she saw Neville cowering behind a tree. I grinned as both of them turned a deep shade of red.

"Ce-Celeste, I was just, just wondering if you uh, if you still wanted that uh, help with your Her-Herbology"

Celeste looked at me, I nodded. She led Neville away. I smiled to myself and looked back at Draco. He had the same usual scowl of his plastered on his face. I sighed.

"For God's sake Draco; you're just never happy are you?"

He rolled his eyes and didn't reply.

That evening after dinner I went down to the dungeons for detention. Snape was sat at his desk marking papers. He looked up.

"Good evening; nice of you to remember"

I nodded and went over to his desk.

"So what are you going to have me do today?"

He smirked and placed a large pile of papers into an empty space next to him.

"You will be helping me grade first years' papers"

I nodded and sat down. He handed me a quill and we marked in complete silence, aside from his occasional grumblings when someone got something completely wrong. After a while I plucked up the courage to ask him about our previous encounter.

"Uh, Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Uh, well last night, just to check I hadn't done anything, I used that memory charm on myself..." he looked up at me; "...Why did you lie to me about it?"

He sighed; "if you didn't know you had you wouldn't be embarrassed by it"

"Why would I be embarrassed by it? I was under love potion and didn't know what I was doing! ...Unless you'd be embarrassed by it..."

"Why would I be?"

"Because...You nearly kissed me back?"

"I didn't nearly do anything! Now continue your detention, in silence!"

I nodded and smirked to myself, knowing I'd struck a nerve.

After my detention I ran back to the common room to tell Celeste about what had happened. She grinned.

"He quite definitely fancies you! It's a shame we can't use Veritaserum..."

I laughed; "oh well; I'll get him my own way...Anyway, how did things go with Neville?"

Her grin got even bigger.

"Well obviously he overheard me shouting at Malfoy...So I kinda admitted I fancied him...And he ran off...But then a while later Seamus and Dean found me and told me Neville fancied me too...So we met him in the library...And now...We're going out!"

"Oh my God that's fantastic! Go you! See, Draco's good for some things!"

She laughed; "I guess...But he's still a prick"

"Oh definitely"

We lay on our beds laughing about our eventful day.

The next day I went to go meet Draco. On the way Celeste was going to meet Neville. He was waiting outside the Great Hall. I smiled as they both awkwardly smiled at each other and held hands. Behind, some of Neville's friends were grinning, laughing and pointing. I went off to go meet Draco. He was sat with Tempest by the fountain.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Lenore! How are you?"

"I'm very well thank you Tempest"

I sat down with them. Draco glared at me.

"So, what are we doing today?"

They both shrugged.

"Not much we can do really" Draco replied. I nodded.

"True"

We all sighed and looked around.

"Well, this is fun" I sighed, they nodded.

"Why don't we go on a walk?" Tempest suggested.

"Fair enough, better than nothing I guess" Draco replied. We got up and began wandering around the school grounds.

"Oh hey Draco, thanks to you, Celeste is going out with Neville"

He groaned; "people just get worse and worse"

I rolled my eyes; "it's actually very sweet"

"Whatever!"

He wandered off ahead. Tempest and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"I think Celeste and Neville will make a wonderful couple" Tempest said. I nodded.

"Me too"

"Draco tells me you like Professor Snape and want to have a relationship with him"

I looked ahead at Draco, my eyes narrowing; "did he now?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell. I think; if you want him to fall for you, you need to show him you're serious and genuine about a relationship and not just messing him about like a typical teenager"

I thought for a moment, the hippy's got a point!

"Thanks for the advice Tempest"

She smiled; "no problem"

We followed after Draco for a while. We all sat by the lake; Tempest and Draco were snuggled up; Draco was determined not to lose the bet. I sighed; feeling rather alone. I looked up to the castle, wondering what Snape was up to, thinking of ways to get to him.

At dinner I noticed he wasn't at the staff table; I finished my dinner quickly and decided to get some alone time with my book. I went and sat below Snapes office window – which, even though up a large flight of stairs in the dungeon, was actually on the ground floor in comparison to the rest of the castle. I occasionally looked up to see if he was in his office. I gave up after a while and just read my book.

"Is there any reason you choose to sit beneath MY window?"

I looked up and smirked to myself.

"It's quiet here Professor, no idiotic students running round"

"But why MY window?"

I shrugged; "I was having Romeo and Juliet moment?"

He rolled his eyes and went back inside. I grinned to myself. I looked up; he'd left the window open. I stood up and leant on the windowsill, he was at his desk marking."

"Do you do anything but mark?"

He looked up; "not really"

"So what's your problem with me reading under your window?"

"I never expressed a dislike in your choice f location; I merely enquired as to why you chose it"

I loved it when he used long words. I shrugged; "it's quiet"

He looked back down at his work before looking up.

"How busy are you?"

"...I'm not?"

"Would you like to assist me with my marking?"

"For you sir, anything! Just a sec" I grinned, before running off. I ran down to the dungeons to his office. As I got within arm's reach of the door it swung open. I smirked and took a seat next to him. He passed me some papers and a quill.

"Like spending time with me huh?" I asked as I picked up the first paper. He sighed.

"If I knew I'd be getting another questionnaire from you I'd never have asked you here"

"...Shall I take that as a yes?"

"Will you please just mark?"

"C'mon sir! Treat me to a conversation! You're the only intelligent person I know!"

"Somehow I can believe that to be true"

I smirked; "it is! Everyone I know has the IQ of a Hinkypuff"

He smirked too; "is that so?"

"Yes"

We managed to get a proper conversation going and hung out in his office until dinner-time. I sat with Celeste, Jade and Ruby. None of which were decent conversation. All I got out of them were; "Neville", "Fred" and "George" What is it about Gryffindor boys? The Slytherin ones are so much better looking! The three of them were sat daydreaming. Huge grins plastered on their faces, staring over at the Gryffindor table. I sighed and finished eating quickly. I looked round to see Snape. He was sat poking at his food looking bored. I smiled and got up. I noticed him look up at me as I rose from the table. I decided to adopt a kind of sexy swagger as I left the Hall. I took the scenic route back to the common room. As usual, I bumped into Snape. I grinned.

"We need to stop meeting like this"

He smirked; "we should. What are you doing down here?"

"I decided to go back to the common room, the long way"

"The long way? Or the wrong way?"

"...They're pretty much the same right? They kill time"

He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you do, don't look like you're looking for trouble"

"...I don't look like I want trouble do?"

"You always look like that"

He pretended to be offended.

"I do not! I'm all innocent and...Stuff"

H smirked; "you're fooling no one"

"Damnit"

"Go on, back to your common room"

"Yes Professor!"

I curtsied and skipped off to the common. I smirked to myself, knowing he was watching me until I went out of sight. I went up to my room and collapsed on my bed in a love-sick daze. Around me, Celeste, Jade and Ruby were in the exact same state.


	6. Chapter 6

It was Monday afternoon and I was in Snapes First Year class helping. They weren't doing anything today, just copying up notes. I sat next to Snape, bored. He looked at me and smirked.

"Can't you find something to entertain yourself with?"

I shrugged; "no?"

He rolled his eyes; "haven't you got any homework?"

"Uhh..."

He sighed; "I'll give you next lessons essay"

"But what will I do next lesson?"

"I'll think of something"

"Oh okay then...Hit me"

He set me off on my essay, watching me as I scanned through my book and wrote down everything. I looked up occasionally, smirking at him. It didn't take long for me t finish. He looked at me sceptically.

"How did you finish that quickly?"

I shrugged; "I know what I'm talking about"

"Ok, it just takes most students three nights to finish it"

"Well, I'm not most students"

He nodded and took my essay. I rest my head in my arms, watching his class as he marked my essay. He sighed loudly and put it down in front of me. "O, 100%". I grinned.

"I'm great"

"Indeed you are, however you're not very modest"

I shrugged; "who needs modesty when you're this amazing?"

He smirked; "don't be getting arrogant, you'll turn into Malfoy"

I pulled a face "oh hell no! Let me know if I'm turning into him"

"I will"

I looked round; "so...How long till the end of the lesson?"

"Eager to leave?"

"No...But I'm bored"

He smirked; "there's ten minutes left"

"Anything I can do?"

He shook his head; "no, you can leave if you want"

"Nah"

I rest my head in my arms on the desk looking up at him. He smirked at me and looked over his class. I sat staring at him blatantly; smirking. Finally it was the end of the lesson; all the first years ran out. I didn't move, I was happy watching Snape. He looked down at me.

"Are you not going?"

I shrugged; "nah, I'd rather watch you"

"Why?"

"It's fun...I want to see how long I can stare at you until you get uncomfortable"

He smirked; "c'mon, out of my classroom!"

"I don't wanna go!" I whined. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

"Go"

I sighed; "fine! See y later sir!"

I grabbed my things, winked at him and skipped out. I could tell by how friendly he was with me he definitely liked me as a friend, I just needed it to be more. I bumped into Draco from my way back from the common room.

"Yo dude! S'up?"

He looked at me oddly; "what's gotten into you?"

"...Huh?"

"Since when were you an American surfer?"

I grinned; "since like, forever!"

He laughed; "what do you want?"

I pretended to be shocked; "I don't need to want something to be nice to you!"

"...Right. Seriously, what do you want"

I laughed; "just wanna spend some time with you. Since this bet started we haven't hung out as much"

He shrugged; "fair enough, let's go"

We wandered down to the Black Lake.

"So seriously Draco...What do you think of Tempest?"

He shrugged; "she's pretty. Just totally not my type! I can't speak to her, she's all wooooo, hippy shit! Let's make dream catchers and sleep under the stars! And I'm just like; NO!"

I burst out laughing; "aww, she seems sweet!"

He stuck his tongue out; "she's WEIRD! ...Anyway, you and Snape, what's going on?"

I shrugged; "we spend most of our time flirting subtly, spending time with each other"

He looked at me in total disbelief; "no way! Are you serious?"

I nodded; "yeah, yesterday he randomly invited me to help him mark papers...We were there for HOURS! And then today, he's been like, my only company all day"

"You're so going to win! This is unfair! But...It's also amazing! I actually want you two to get together! You may be able to break him!"

I laughed; "I want to go out with him...He's actually really nice! He makes me laugh"

"He's nice? And funny? Has he slipped you any kind of Potion?"

I laughed again; "nah..He's just...Nice"

"So...You think he's good looking?"

I giggled to myself. He grinned.

"Do you?"

I shrugged and bit y lip; "I guess so"

"Oh! My! GOD!"

I laughed; "what? You know I have a...Weird, taste in men"

"Weird isn't the word! You're blind!"

"I am not!"

"Whatever! You keep telling yourself that!"

I laughed and pushed him playfully.

"Anyway Blondie...You hungry?"

He rolled his eyes; "yeah...And stop with the Blondie thing!"

I laughed; "I've been calling you that since I could talk! I'm not going to stop now! Seriously, if you first I'm having it inscribed on your grave! And if I die first, they're going to be my last words"

He laughed; "you need to get a life?"

I shrugged; "I'm fine with this one thanks!"

"But why? You fancy and old gross man!"

"He's not old and gross!"

"What...EVER!"

"Anyway...I'm still hungry...To the kitchens!"

I jumped up and struck a superhero pose. He laughed and got up.

"Come on! Loser!"

"I heard that! And...Guess what?"

"...What?"

I punched his arm; "tag!"

"For fucks sake!"

I laughed and ran off ahead. Draco ran after me. He'd never been able to catch up with me, I had slightly longer legs. We raced up to the castle and to the kitchens. I threw my arms in the air and grinned.

"Victory!"

Draco scowled and tried to get his breath back; "one day, I'm gonna beat you!"

"One day Draco...One day"

We went into the kitchen. We were greeted by the House Elves. Draco sighed; he hated them; I however loved them.

"Good evening Hoppy, what's on the menu"

"Hello Miss Page, as always, whatever you want"

I looked at Draco; "what do you want?"

He shrugged; "anything"

I sighed; "well that bloody narrows it down! Uhm, I'm in the mood for...Uh...Risotto!"

Hoppy smiled; "very well, and Mr Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged; "I'll have some too"

"Ok...It will be ready shortly, have a seat?"

He clicked his fingers and two chairs and a table appeared by the fireplace. We sat down. I pouted at Draco. He sighed.

"Now what?"

"Why are you so mean to the House Elves? They're lovely and cute!"

"They're servants! Nothing more!"

I rolled my eyes. A while later Snape came in. Hoppy ran over and bowed to him.

"The usual Master Snape?"

Snape nodded. He turned and looked at us.

"Not eating with the rest of us?" he asked, sitting on a chair that had suddenly appeared.

"Nah, we don't eat with common folk!" I said jokingly. He smirked.

"Don't we now? I fear you are turning into Mr Malfoy!"

"Oh, God, NO!"

Draco looked at us both confoundedly.

"...Have I missed something?"

I laughed; "don't worry yourself! Just a personal joke"

"Oh dear"

I smirked; "so anyway..."

It went silent. I rest my chin in my hands, staring at Snape like an obsessed school-girl. He just smirked and ignored it. Draco looked at me as if I were insane. Just then Hoppy ran over with Snapes drink of God-knows-what.

"Here you are, apologies for the wait"

Snape nodded. Hoppy ran off again. Snape looked at me.

"...Have you finished yet?"

"Are you freaked out yet?"

"No"

"Then I'm not finished"

Draco looked even more confused.

"Another inside joke?"

I nodded and carried on staring at Snape.

"I'm going to make this extra difficult for you and leave" Snape said getting up.

"No! You can't go! That just ruins it!"

"Goodbye Lenore"

I sighed as he left the kitchens. Draco looked at me. I burst out laughing.

"What!"

"You two really do flirt! What were all the inside jokes anyway?"

"Uh...He said I was turning into you...So I asked if he could warn me if I ever did...And earlier...I refused to leave his classroom because I'd rather stare at him until it freaked him out"

"...Right...You, are insane! If you weren't more sane than anyone else in this crackpot joint I'd refuse to hang out with you!"

I burst out laughing; "you love me really Drakie-Poo"

He cringed; "never, ever, EVER call me that!"

"It's either that or Blondie"

"Blondie! Please! Drakie-Poo is just...Degrading!"

I smirked; "Blondie it is!"

He sighed; "when's this food coming?"

He pouted and refused to look at me. I grinned to myself and looked around. Just then I looked receptive; Draco picked up on it.

"What?"

"...He called me Lenore"

He nodded slowly. I sighed.

"He never calls people by their first name!"

"...He likes you"

I shrugged and smirked; "he must do"

He laughed and shook his head.


	7. Chapter 7

fter weeks of extreme flirting and teasing Draco, it was the Halloween dance in less than four days. Dumbledore hadn't allowed anyone to go to Hogsmeade to get their outfits until today. I made sure that me, Celeste and the twins were up super early. No one else in the castle seemed to be moving at all. We ran most of the way to Hogsmeade.

"What are you going as?" Celeste asked.

"Saucy pirate wench" I said striking a pose. She grinned. "What about you?"

She shrugged; "I dunno...I'll see when I get there"

"Come as a pirate wench like me...I don't wanna be dressd as a slag on my own"

She laughed; "half the school will look whorish!"

"So one more won't hurt!"

She shrugged; "fine!"

"Great! What about you two?"

The twins grinned; "I'm going a police officer-" Jade said.

"-And I'm a nurse"

Celeste and I laughed.

"Cool!"

We finally got to Hogsmeade. Jade and Ruby went to the costume shop, whereas Celeste and I went to normal shops to get things to make us more piratey; only going to the costume shop for hats and swords. We all met up at the Three Broomsticks.

"We're going to look cool!" Celeste said looking in one of her bags. I nodded.

"Totally! And if failing that, we will look like prostitutes! ...What will Neville think?"

Her face dropped; "shit, I forgot about him! He'll be bright pink all night!"

I laughed; "poor Neville, he's going to get more than he bargained for!"

"...Oh well, I'll look hot!"

"Damn sexy!"

She smirked; "what will Severus think of your outfit?"

I shrugged and smirked; "I have no idea...He'd better like it! I think he has a secret love for pirate girls"

She burst out laughing; "I'm sure he does"

We started making our way back to Hogwarts as most students began arriving. On the way we bumped into Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, and Tempest.

"Hey guys, off to get your outfits?"

"Yeah...What time did you get here?"

"Ages ago! We set off super super early!"

"Obviously! Get anything good?"

"You'll see at the dance"

"Tease, anyway, see you guys later"

We parted and carried on to the castle. When we got up to our room we instantly tried on our outfits.

"Wow we look slaggier than I first imagined"

I laughed; "yeah but we look damn hot"

I checked the back view in the mirror.

"Thank God my ass isn't as big as Draco jokes"

Celeste laughed; "he's just jealous it's out of bounds"

"Eww Celeste! Don't be gross! He's like my brother!"

"Whatever"

I rolled my eyes and made sure my outfit was complete. I pulled my sword out from its sheath and struck a piratey pose.

"Yargh!"

Celeste laughed; "nice!"

She did the same.

"Move over Blackbeard! Celeste and Lenore are gonna rock the seven seas!"

"Damn right!"

We high fived and looked over in time to see Jade and Ruby burst out of the bathroom, both striking pin-up-girl poses.

"Oh wow. If Fred and George don't like they're gay!"

They began giggling and ran to the mirror we were previously occupying. I began getting changed back into my normal clothes.

"Anyway, you girls giggle about those sexy Gryffindor boys, I'm off to go wander in the real world!" I said going to the door. They laughed.

"You keep telling yourself that Lenore, anyone who fancies Severus Snape claim she's sane! There's got to be something squiffy in that mind"

"Whatever Celeste! Older Potions master is better than Plant Boy"

"Older? You mean OLD!"

"No, I mean...Mature...Experienced-"

"-Experienced? Please don't tell me you mean like-"

"-Oh God no! I mean...Hes more experienced at LIFE...Don't be gross!"

"If you date him, you know that's gonna come up"

"Yeah...IF"

She laughed; "you will, that pirate wench outfit will guarentee it!"

I winked and dived out of the room. The castle was eerily empty, I could hear my footsteps echoing five corridors down. I went outside and sat by the fountain. It was nice being in a quiet empty castle, not having stupid first years run into you every five minutes, having people standing on your feet. I got a while to myself until I heard footsteps echoing. I looked up, hoping it was Snape, it always was. McGonagall strolled by. I sighed and looked down on the floor.

"Well well, we looked hopefull didn't we, expecting someone?"

I spun round, Snape was stood a few meters behind me, smirking. I smirked too.

"No, and I didn't look hopeful"

"Don't lie to me, I know you well enough..." he sat down on the fountain close to me; "...Not in Hogsmeade with your peers?"

"Already been, set up super early this morning to avoid the rush"

"Nice choice, got your outfit then?"

I grinned; "I have"

"What is it?"

"I'm not telling"

"Oh you tease"

I smirked; our flirting had moved up a notch over the weeks.

"So, will you be dressing up?"

He shook his head; "certainly not"

"Aww, why not?"

"I don't partake in the childishness"

"What? Halloween isn't childish!"

"Oh really?"

"...Well, it is kinda, but still, if you saw my outfit then, yeah...Children don't dress like that"

"...Oh dear, how inappropriate is it?"

"Uhm...Very"

He shook his head; "I thought you knew better than that"

"I do! It's just...One night out of the year where I can dress up like a harlot and not be the only one...and I look damn good"

He smirked; "I'm sure you will"

"Anyway...Are you not busy?"

"Trying to get rid of me?"

"Of course not! I'm just curious, I thought you knew that"

He smirked; "no I'm not busy, just taking a strooll thorough the empty castle, making the most of it until the idiots return"

I nodded; "it's nicer when it's empty...I wish I could stay for Christmas"

"Aren't you?"

"No...We're spending it at the Malfoys...Some, big party or something"

He nodded; "you'll have fun nonetheless"

"Yeah, I always do...What are you doing for Christmas?"

He shrugged; "same as I usually do. Sit in my ofice, listing reasons why the world hates me"

I laughed; "you moody git!"

I was also the only one here who could insult Snape and get away with it. He smirked.

"Well, what better way to rebel against society than be miserable on the most joyous holiday?"

"Severus Snape rebelling? Wow! Bad ass!"

He chuckled; "you think you know somone..."

I nodded; "yeah, I'm starting to look at you in a different light..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, dressed all in leather, motorbike...you're covered in tattoos, that's why you never show your skin"

He smirked; "and here was I thinking my secret would never be found out"

"I knew it!"

He shook his head; "you children and your imaginations"

"Hey! I'm no child! I'm a young woman I think you'll find!"

"Okay then, you young women!"

"That's better! ...So, will you PLEASE dress up?"

"Uh...No"

"Spoil sport...C'mon! Surely there's a happy little kid inside of you just wanting to burst out!"

"If there was I'm sure he's dead by now"

"Wow, you have some deep, psychological issues you need to work on"

He smirked; "do I now? Such as?"

"...Sadistic, evil...uhm...silly haircut"

"What's my hair got to do with it?"

I grinned; "because...your hair folacles are slowly growing inwards and suffocating your brain!"

"And you're saying I have the psychological issues?"

I shrugged; "I never said I didn't"

"Touche"

I went silent. I sighed happily and looked around.

"Is it just me or do we tend to have fun around each other?"

I looked up ahim; he nodded admittedly.

"Yeah, I guess we do...You make for excellent company"

"Why thank you, so do you"

He suddenly stood up.

"It's nearly lunch time...Would you like to get some food with me?"

"...Great Hall or kitchens?"

"...Kitchens, it's more private"

I smirked to myself and got up. We strolled to the kitchens. We sat by the fireplace whilst the House Elves prepared our food.

"Y'know I've always wondered...Why do they call you master? And apologise if you have to wait for your food to be prepared?"

He smirked; "they're extremely afraid of me"

"And you never tell them it's okay if you have to wait for your drink to be made?"

"...No"

"Oh I get it! You just like the power, and the fact you can strike fear into everyones hearts the moment you walk into the room!"

He smirked; "somehow that didn't seem to work with you"

I grinned; "sorry, did I ruin your plan?"

"yes"

"Aww I'm sorry"

Just then Hoppy came over with our food.

"Sorry for the wait Professor Snape"

I looked at Snape, trying to coax him to be nice. He sighed.

"It's okay Hoppy"

Hopy grinned and skipped off. I smiled at Snape.

"See, it's good to be nice"

He rolled his eyes and began eating. I smirked to myself and began eating too.


	8. Chapter 8

It was finally the day of the Halloween dance. I was wandering around the grounds with Draco. He was moaning about how he had to take Tempest.

"She's dressing up as a damn mermaid!"

I laughed; "that's not so bad!"

"She's going to be waddling about all night"

I laughed even more; "she's going all out?"

"Yeah! It's going to be so embarrassgin!"

"I know...I have to go alone tonight...Poor little me"

He laughed; "whatever, I know you're be trying to hook up with Snape after a while"

I grinned and shrugged; "well...Yeah..."

He laughed and pushed me playfully.

"Do I still have to wait to see what your outfit is?"

"Yup"

"Damn you"

I smirked and draped my arm round his shoulders.

"There there Draco, only a few more hours"

"I guess...So anyway...Will you be getting off with Snape tonight?"

I looked at him sceptically; "something tells me I won't be"

"Really? I mean, you two are pretty much a couple already, all that flirting and whatnot"

I laughed; "alright then?"

"Don't try and deny it! I've seen you two around each other! You forget others can see you"

"...Meh"

He laughed; "is that a win for Draco Malfoy"

"Class it as whatever you want"

"WIN!"

I laughed as he did a victory dance.

"You are such a loser Malfoy"

"You love me"

"That's what you think"

He pretended to be shocked and began 'crying'. I laughed and just ignored him.

"Hey! You're supposed to comfort me!"

"Why? You're crying like a little girl! Comfort yourself!"

"What? How? There's no logic in that response!"

"Yeah, well, there's no logic in your face!"

We laughed.

"Oh dear Lenore, your mind is slowly unravelling!"

"Like a tapestry and some angry kittens!"

I did an impression on a cat clawing at a tapestry. He stopped walking and looked at me as if I'd suddenly grown 10 extra heads. I looked at him questioningly.

"...Yes?"

"Help! This girl has lost her mind!"

I laughed and punched his arm playfully.

"I'm not a complete lost cause yet Malfoy"

He smirked and draped his arm over my shoulders.

"Come on...Let's go...Do...Something"

I laughed and threw his arm off me. We walked back up to the castle. On the way we saw both sets of twins. They were stood in the corner of the courtyard and looked to be plotting. I laughed and looked over at them. Jade noticed me and waved. I waved back. Draco continued walking, mumbling things to himself about the Weasleys. I sighed and jogged after him.

"Your friends fancy the worst people!"

I shrugged; "my friends have a few screws loose...I don't exactly see the attraction with Gryffindor boys"

"Yeah, we Slytherin guys are much sexier"

I burst out laughing; "yeah, Crabbe and Goyle, hot stuff!"

He laughed too; "okay, so there are a few bad apples in the bunch, but some are good"

I shrugged; "I guess some of you are all right"

We wandered around the castle, looking for something to do. I sighed and stopped, leaning on a pillar.

"There's nothing to do! It's too early to get ready for tonight?"

Draco nodded; "it'd be better if you were in Slytherin...We could hang out in the common room"

"Where else can we hang out with comfy sofas?"

He shrugged; "there isn't anywhere"

"...This sucks!"

"Majorly"

I slid down the pillar and sat on the floor. Draco sighed and sat down too. We watched loads of first and second years and girls running around excited for tonight.

"...Not hanging out with Tempest today?"

"NO!"

"...Okay"

He sighed and looked up; "I'm on the verge of just giving up! I can't stand the girl! At first I just put up with it because I had a chance of winning...But now...Snape's totally just wrapped round your finger, you've pretty much won already"

I grinned; "c'mon Draco! You could win! Especially after tonight! Just...Be nice and go for it"

"I don't want to! I actually don't want to hurt her feelings! I don't want her to get attached just for me to dump her as soon as I win"

"Wow, are you getting soft?"

"No! I'm just aware of people's feelings!"

"I'm impressed!"

"Why thank you"

He grinned. I laughed and patted his head.

"Good boy"

He scowled at me and pushed my hand away.

"Don't patronise me whore!"

"Watch your language Malfoy"

We looked up; Snape was walking past. Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to insult your new favourite"

He stopped; "my new favourite?"

I laughed; "Ignore him, he's just jealous you like me more"

Snape smirked; "life's hard"

"I told him that, he's just so darn emotional right now!"

Draco scowled at us. I grinned.

"It's okay Draco! Just let it out!" I said hugging him. Snape smirked and walked on. Draco sighed and glared at me.

"Let go of me before I kick your ass!"

"Bring it!"

We raised our fists and glared at each other before bursting into laughter. We slowed down and sighed loudly in unison.

"...Why's there's nothing to do?"

He shrugged and sighed again. We sat in silence, watching everyone run around.

"You know what...Even though there's about four hours until the dance...I'm gonna go get ready"

Draco laughed; "yeah, I might too"

We parted ways and went to our common rooms. Celeste was lay on her bed grinning to herself.

"Someone's happy...Not with Neville today?"

"Yeah, he's gone to hang out with his friends for now..."

"Okay...You have a look about you of a girl in love"

She giggled and grabbed her teddy bear. I smiled and lay on my bed.

"So...Are you going to entertain me for a few hours?"

She sighed happily. I rolled my eyes and lay there for a few minutes before getting restless.

"Celeste, are you going to do anything other than giggle about how much you love Neville?"

She giggled and squeezed her teddy. I sighed and went to go find something to do. I wandered around the corridors looking for someone or something. I ran into Flitwick.

"Ahh Miss Page, we're not busy are we?"

"No...Are you going to give me a job to do?"

"Well aren't we eager! Yes, I'd like you to deliver these notes" he said hanging me a small pile of envelopes.

"Sure thing Professor"

I looked through the envelopes; McGonagall, Trelawney, Snape, Hagrid...I put Snapes at the bottom and wandered round the school to each office. Finally I got to Snapes. When I went into his office he already had company. Lucius Malfoy was talking to him. They both smiled when they saw me.

"Lenore! How nice to see you!" Lucius said hugging me. I smiled and hugged him back.

"This is a surprise, what are you doing here?"

"I uh, need to talk with Professor Snape, why are you here?"

I held up the envelope.

"I'm playing owl"

Snape smirked and took the letter.

"So, looking forward to Christmas?"

"Yeah...But, it's two months away!"

"No harm in being excited now! I hope you don't mind having to spend it in the company of your grumpy old Potions Master"

I looked at Snape; he smirked and nodded.

"He's gonna be there?"

"Yes"

"...Why?"

"Because..."

I sighed; "you're so secretive! Have you seen Draco?"

"I'm on my way there after this meeting"

"I'll stop interrupting then"

"It was nice to see you again"

"You too Lucius"

He gave me another hug and I left. I wandered back up to the Ravenclaw common room. That errand had killed an hour and a half. When I got in the twins were sat on their beds giggling.

"Any of you girls not too in love to hang out with me?"

They all looked up.

"What do you want to do Lenore?" the twins asked? I shrugged and flopped down on my bed.

"Anything! I'm bored out of my mind!"

"Why don't we dress up ready for tonight?"

"...Then do what?"

"...Take pictures, mess about...Whatever"

I looked at Celeste, she shrugged. I nodded.

"Sure, let's do that"

We spent about an hour getting into our costumes and adding extras such as make-up and hair. Celeste and I looked into our mirror.

"...I love being a pirate, I wish I could be a pirate all the time" I said twirling round. Celeste laughed and nodded.

"Could we wear more layers in winter?"

I shrugged; "sure, whatever floats your boat"

She laughed; "bad pun!"

I looked at her oddly before laughing; "I didn't even mean that as a pun!"

"Whatever! You're just amazingly lame"

"Whatever plant lover!"

She laughed; "old man lover!"

"He's not old! ...Dumbledore, is old. Snape's just older than us..."

She nodded sceptically; "sure thing loser!"

"You're the loser!"

"Prove it!"

We both drew our swords.

"I'll cut ye throat from where ye stand!"

She burst out laughing; "uh, yargh ye won't!"

We began play-fighting with our swords.


	9. Chapter 9

Celeste and I ran down to the Great Hall with the twins not far behind us. Neville, Seamus and Dean were waiting by the stairs. Their jaws dropped when they saw us; Neville turned a dark shade of pink. Celeste laughed and hugged him.

"Get in there Neville! You've got one hot date!" Seamus said laughing. I looked round for Draco. He was stood looking moody by a pillar. He was dressed as a vampire. I smirked and ran over to him.

"Honestly Draco, you didn't try very hard for your outfit"

He spun round and grinned at me; "wow, you look awesome!"

I smirked; "thank you"

"I so wanna see what Snape thinks of your outfit! Or lack of one!"

I laughed and hit him playfully.

"No sign of Tempest?"

He shook his head; "not yet...I'm so dreading this"

I laughed; "it'll be fine! No worries!"

He sighed and looked around. I looked round. The twins were chatting up Fred and George; Neville was still bright pink. Eventually Tempest arrived. She looked amazing as a mermaid; Draco actually smiled genuinely when she came over.

"You look nice"

She smiled; "thank you, so do you"

She looked at me and smiled.

"Pirate huh?"

"The correct term is, saucy pirate wench"

"I'd say! You coming in?" Draco said smirking. I nodded and took his free arm. Inside most of the girls in fifth year and above were wearing skimpy outfits; others had gone for traditional scary outfits. The Hall slowly filled; even some of the teachers had dressed up. Dumbledore gave a small speech before the music began. I flicked between dancing with Draco & Tempest and Celeste and the Gryffindor boys. After a while I dragged Celeste away. We went over to get a drink.

"This is amazing!" Celeste said grinning. I laughed and nodded.

"Neville's still pink"

"That's because he's been dancing so much!"

"Oh whatever! You're half naked! He's so embarrassed!"

"I don't get why...I'm not!"

"Looking round, we're more clothed than some of the girls in here"

She laughed and nodded; "it's a terrifying fact!"

"Indeed"

"Anyway, I'm gonna go back before someone muscles in on my man!"

I laughed and watched her run back into the crowd. I sipped at my drink looking round. Draco appeared to be getting on with Tempest; both sets of twins were dancing happily. Unfortunately I couldn't find Snape anywhere. He was probably being a grumpy sod sulking in his office. I went to go back into the crowd when Draco dived on me and dragged me away to the corner of the room. I laughed.

"What's wrong?"

"I need some air!"

"Uh-huh?"

"...And Tempest is annoying me"

"Really? You look like you're having so much fun!"

"Well, I guess we are, but she's all talk talk talk! Her voice gets on my nerves"

"What? C'mon Draco! Stop being petty!"

He shrugged; "if she kept her mouth shut I'd probably like her more"

"...You could shut her up"

"Oh? How?"

I smirked; "well..."

He rolled his eyes; "I am NOT doing that!"

"Ok then, your loss"

He sighed; "I'm not kissing her!"

He went back into the crowd. I smirked as I watched him look uncomfortable as Tempest grabbed him and made him dance instantly. I went to go back in when a hand grabbed me and pulled me into a dark alcove. It was too dark; I couldn't make out who it was. A pair of hands slid around my waist and pulled me closer. The next minute their lips were on mine. I tried to figure out who it was. The height was familiar; I wrapped my arms round his neck. The hair confirmed it. We pulled away. I smirked.

"What are you doing sir?"

"You were quick"

I laughed to myself. I pulled him out of the dark slightly. He had a large smirk on his face.

"I'll ask again, what were you doing?"

"I ask the questions around here...And anyway, I thought it was pretty obvious"

"Don't be pedantic sir"

He chuckled; "why, does it bother you?"

"What? Your attitude or the fact you kissed me?"

"Whichever"

"Yes, your attitude annoys the hell out of me...And the fact you kissed me...? Meh"

He smirked and pulled me back into the alcove.

"By the way...I like your outfit"

I smirked as he pulled me into another kiss. We made-out all evening.

"I'm afraid, I have to go now"

I sighed; "do you have to?"

He nodded. He kissed me softly before rushing out of the Hall. I trudged back out into the crowd. They were all still very much dancing like lunatics. I decided to sneak back into the crowd. Neville and Celeste were slow dancing. I smiled and went over to them.

"Hey you two, having fun?"

Neville went bright pink again. Celeste giggled and rest her head on his shoulder. I nodded and went over to Draco and Tempest, they were slow dancing too.

"Well I can see I'm not wanted by anyone!"

Draco laughed; "aww! Come here!"

He pulled me in to dance with them. Tempest laughed and put her arm over my shoulders. We all slow danced whilst laughing.

"So...Where've you been for the past few hours?" Draco asked. I shrugged.

"Around"

He nodded sceptically; "right?"

"Really!"

His eyes narrowed; "I'll speak to you later!"

I laughed; "whatever"

I pulled out of their grip and decided to go back to the common room. I'd had a good evening and didn't mind getting an early night. I skipped down the corridors to the Ravenclaw common room, hoping to bump into Snape. Unfortunately, I managed to get there with no sign of him. I got changed into some normal clothes and decided to go get some food before going to bed. I went up to the kitchens. I sat by the fireplace as Hoppy got my order.

"Here you go Miss Page" he said, setting my coffee down on the table. I smiled and thanked him. I sat thinking about the evening and what was up with Snape. I decided to jus sleep on it. I quickly drank my coffee and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to Celeste jumping on my bed. I groaned and rolled over.

"What? Don't you know better than to wake me when I'm sleeping?"

"I just wanted to ask about your night! Mine was fantastic! How was yours? I didn't see you for most of it! Where did you bugger off to?"

I sighed and sat up; she stopped bouncing. I rubbed my head.

"I was just around, dancing with random people...Y'know?"

She shook her head; "I doubt that! I would have seen you!"

"No you wouldn't! You were too engrossed with lover-boy!"

"I was not!"

"Were too!"

"C'mon! Tell me what happened!"

"Nothing happened! I was just, around!"

She sighed; "you're no fun!"

I shrugged and curled back up in bed.

That afternoon I met up with Draco. He looked like he'd risen from the dead.

"Wow, you look rough"

Me mumbled something inaudible and sat down. I laughed and sat next to him.

"So...How was last night?"

He shrugged; "could have been better"

"How so?"

"Tempest could have not been there"

"Aww! I'm sure you two had plenty of fun!"

"I'll admit, we did have a bit of fun...But then I had to walk her back to the common room...And I had to kiss her!"

I laughed; "oh my God no way!"

He sighed and hung his head in shame; "yes...It was awful"

"Why, is she a bad kisser?"

"No...Not that"

"...Then what?"

He shook his head. I looked at him analytically.

"...You liked it?"

He nodded ashamedly.

"Oh wow! See! Told you you'd like her!"

He sighed; "whatever...Anyway, you and Snape! What happened?"

"What makes you think I was with Snape?"

"Uhm...Maybe the fact that, I saw you!"

"When?"

"After I left you to go back to Tempest, I saw where you'd stood and you were gone, then a few minutes later you and Snape appeared, before disappearing back into the dark! Then finally a few hours later, you reappear"

I laughed; "good detective work Malfoy! Sherlock Holmes watch out!"

He smirked; "so, what were you doing?"

"Nothing much if I'm honest"

"Aww, were you kissing your little boyfriend?"

I laughed and shrugged; "well...Yeah...AND...He started it!"

"What?"

"I was gonna go join everyone dancing and he suddenly pulled me into that alcove and kissed me!"

"...I've pretty much lost this haven't I?"

I nodded; "indeed you have"

"...Damn! BUT, that means I can ditch Tempest! Finally!"

"But you were starting to like her!"

"I don't!"

"You keep telling yourself that, I know you better than you know yourself"

He shook his head. We sat chatting for a while until we ran out of conversation.

"So...You going out with Snape now?"

I shrugged; "I don't think so"

"...Why?"

"I don't think that's what he wants...And it's complicated"

"Not what he wants? What? He was trying so hard to just not rape you last night!"

I shrugged; "that was one night, and this is Snape! He may flirt back but I hardly think he's going to try and have a relationship with me!"

Draco sighed; "you're just in denial, you're so close to getting what you want and you're worried is all gonna go down the drain"

"Well yeah! You're dancing with Tempest for a bet! I'm trying to win over Snape because I want to! With an added bonus!"

"Well then go for it! All you've got to lose is-"

"-Is what Malfoy? Everything I want?"

He shrugged; "you're too good for him anyway"

I sighed and looked up at the sky; "I'm not too good for anyone"

"For fucks sake Lenore! You had the best night of your life last night! There's a 99.99% chance the guy you're in love with likes you back; so what if he doesn't want a relationship because it'd be complicated and is totally against the rules! At least we still know he likes you! He probably would ask you out if he wouldn't run the risk of getting fired!"

I sighed; "I hate it when you're right"

He smirked; "go get him!"

"...Later, my legs hurt right now"

He laughed as I flopped down onto the floor.


	10. Chapter 10

Lessons continued as usual on Monday. I was sat in my usual seat at the front with Draco in Potions. I hadn't seen Snape since the Halloween dance. During the lesson he seemed to be avoiding me. I sighed and dropped my head on the desk. Draco smiled meekly.

"You okay?"

I looked up and sighed again; "...No"

He hugged me loosely before carrying on with his work. I looked up at Snape; he was entirely engrossed in his marking. I was one ahead of the rest of the class, so to set me level with them again Snape had me just read my notes. I looked over at Draco; he'd nearly finished his work.

"Hey Draco...When you hand that in, give him a note?"

"Sure...But has it really come to this?"

"...Yeah. Silent lesson, no opportunity for me to get near him, he's trying to avoid me! If I'm to help him this afternoon with his first years, how awkward is that going to be?"

Draco nodded; "okay"

I grabbed some parchment and began scribbling my note to Snape, asking why he was avoiding me. Draco finally finished his work. I slipped the note into his book before he took it up. I peered over my book to see Snapes reaction when he read my note. He sighed and looked up at me. I looked back down at my book, knowing he was writing a reply. A while later he came over. He dropped Draco's book in front of him.

"Look over your mistakes, maybe you could get Miss Page to teach you a thing or two in paying attention"

He went back to his desk. Draco opened his book, I snatched the note that was lying there and read it whilst Draco grumbled about his obvious mistakes.

"Lenore; I'm not avoiding you as much as just distancing myself from you. Surely you're aware of how inappropriate the other night was; if found out I could lose my job. It's not that I don't like you, quite the opposite. We just can't. My apologies"

I sighed and looked up. Snape wasn't at his desk; he was wandering around the class keeping everyone quiet.

"I swear sometimes he just hates me"

I looked at Draco; his work had a lot of scribbling, underlining and circling on it. I nodded.

"Did you just, do the wrong essay?"

He shrugged; "apparently"

I rolled my eyes; "you're an idiot, come here..."

I began scribbling notes down to help him. He reached over and took the note. He read it and tutted.

"Men, they're all the same"

I shrugged; "I'll live...You however, need to get this right!"

He looked at his work; "fine"

I quickly scribbled down another note and slipped it into Snapes pocket as he walked past. I watched him sit at his desk and read it. He looked up at me and shook his head. I sighed and nodded. I turned back to Draco. He was correcting his first lot of mistakes.

"Looks like I've got a free afternoon"

"Huh?"

"Snape's cancelled my afternoon session with him"

"Well he would he's a coward and can't face up to what he's done"

I rolled my eyes; "or, he's protecting the only constant in his life. If he loses his job what else has he got?"

"Well, he'd had your for certain, he could build a life with you...It'd probably be better than this anyway"

I shrugged; "he knows what he's doing"

"No he doesn't! And I don't get why you're defending him! You really must be in love with him"

"Fine! Do this work on your own!"

I turned away from him and spent the rest of the lesson staring at the wall. I went to go meet Celeste and Neville at lunch. They were sat in the courtyard snuggled up. I slumped down next to them and sighed.

"...Something wrong?"

"Meh"

They looked at each other, concerned. Celeste got up.

"Sorry Neville, girl stuff"

He nodded as she dragged me away.

"C'mon, spill, what's up?"

"Snape's distancing himself from me"

"...Why?"

"He could lose his job"

"...For what? Flirting with you?"

"Uh...I didn't exactly tell you everything about Halloween"

Her jaw dropped; "oh my God you did get off with him!"

"Yeah...And he said he needs to stay away from me or else...He won't be able to like, resist? And could possibly lose his job"

She nodded; "but...Dumbledore, he's very understanding. I think if he sees that Snape's in love, no matter what rules it breaks, he'd allow it..."

I shrugged; "why go through the hassle?"

She sighed; "I don't think you two should just, give up so easily..."

"Well...Whatever"

We went back over to Neville. He smiled sweetly at us and took Celeste's hand. I sighed as they sat all snuggled up and coupley.

"...I'm gonna go catch up on some homework" I said getting.

"Okay...We'll see you later then?" Celeste asked. I nodded and went to the common room. I sat by the fire writing up essays and reading notes. It didn't take long for me to finish, so I decided to go on a walk. I sat down by the lake watching the still waters, contemplating the situation with Snape. I decided to just leave it for a while. I went back up to the castle. I went to the library to find a book to read. I curled up in one of the oversized chairs and began reading. After a few hours it began filling up because lessons were over. Tempest came in. She noticed me and wandered over.

"Hello"

I smiled; "hey"

"What're you reading?"

I shrugged and showed her the front cover. She nodded.

"So, how're you?"

I shrugged; "pretty bummed out to tell you the truth. How're you coping?"

"I'm good...What're you down about?"

"...Everything"

"Is it Snape? I know you had something with him..."

I nodded reluctantly; "we went a bit too far...Now we need to, well, stay away from each other"

"That's awful...Are you sure there's no way of getting around it?"

I shook my head; "I doubt it"

"You could at least try?"

"I could, but...You know Snape. He's not exactly known for...Niceness, subtlety, whatever, y'know?"

She nodded; "well, if you love him you should..."

She got up and left. I hated it when she did that. I sighed and put my book down. I jumped up and went to go find Snape. I ran into Draco on the way.

"Hey I need to speak with you"

"Uh...Not now Draco"

"You going to Snape?"

"Uh...Yeah"

He sighed; "this is more important"

"Is it really?"

"Yeah! Come on!"

He dragged me in the opposite direction. I sighed and went with him.

"Right...What's so damn important?"

"I just came from the dungeons, walked past Snapes office...Dumbledore's talking to him about something important"

I shrugged; "Snape's pretty much Dumbledore's lackey! They do a lot of important business together"

"I don't think it was on that level of importance...You know how Dumbledore knows everything?"

"Yeah..."

"As in...Everything?"

I shrugged; "I highly doubt Dumbledore's going to involve himself in something as petty as a kiss"

"A kiss, no, a whole load of kisses and feelings? Maybe!"

"You're just involving yourself Draco"

"Yeah...Because right now you're too love-sick to see what's going on! Stay away from Snape for a while...Let the dust settle before you go bursting into his office telling him that if you're in love nothing else matters!"

I sighed; "fine"

"Shake on it!"

I shook his outstretched hand.

"Right...Now c'mon, let's have Snape-less fun"

"There's no fun without Snape" I sighed. He looked at me, not impressed by my response. I burst out laughing; "I'm kidding! I'm kidding, Jeez!"

He rolled his eyes and let me drag him off. We wandered around the castle chatting about anything but the bet. At dinner we sat together at the far end of the Slytherin table.

"So...What shall we do later?"

I shrugged; "we're really running out of things to do! It's boring here!"

"Tell me about it"

"I think, I've read all the books in the library...No corridor is unknown to me...You can dump me in the middle of the Dark Forest and I'll find my way back in less than fifteen minutes...We need to get out!"

He laughed; "all I can say is, 1, NERD! 2, naughty, some corridors are forbidden, and 3, yeah, I probably could too"

I laughed too; "I'm not a nerd! Some of us have moved up from Kippers ABC's!"

"Just what are you insinuating?"

"I'm insinuating; you're a fucking retard!"

"How dare you! Just, how dare you! I'm no retard!"

I laughed; "prove it!"

"Uh...I know long words"

"Like?"

"Uh...!"

"And what does it mean?"

"...How the hell should I know?"

"Want to hear a better word? It's much more fun to say"

"Come on then loser, hit me with your word of wonder!"

I laughed; "floccinaucinihilipilification!"

"...Wow that is fun! ...What does it mean?"

"The act of assessing something as worthless"

"Ahh...So, we do that all the time"

"Indeed, I bet you never knew it had such a fun name!"

He laughed; "I didn't! I guess you learn something new every day"

"That you do!"

"But, it still hasn't solved the problem of what we're supposed to do until Christmas"

"Yeah...Fuck..."

"For now...Let's just eat"

I nodded and carried on eating my dinner. I looked up at the staff table. Snape was sat, stabbing his food, looking more miserable than he usually did. Draco noticed me looking at him.

"Hey! Slag!"

I looked at him; "what?"

"Stop looking at him! You're only teasing yourself"

I sighed and looked at my plate. After we ate we decided to just go back to our rooms. The girls were still out with their new boyfriends so I was alone. I lay on my bed staring t the ceiling. Just then there was a taping at my window. There was a jet black owl there with a letter. I let it in, it dropped the letter on my lap and perched itself on my desk. I opened the letter and instantly recognised the writing.

"Lenore. I had a meeting with Dumbeldore earlier. He knows about what happened. As you may have guessed he does not approve of the situation, however, under certain circumstances there's nothing he can do about it. For now, don't worry yourself about it. I don't wish to distance myself from you but at the moment I must. But, at the right time I'll let you know where I stand. But also, for me to do that, I need to know where you stand. Please write me your response and give it to my owl. Thank you. Severus"

I smiled to myself; there's a chance I can be with him! I grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote down my feelings before giving it to the owl. It flew off. I flopped down on myself trying hard to not grin as much as I was.


	11. Chapter 11

We continued lessons as normal; the next Potions lesson was much easier and less tense. We were finally making Amortentia. Draco had copied down all the corrections in my book, so now we were both the only two in the class who got things right.

"Everyone stop! You've had ample time to make your potions. Bring a sample up to me and I'll assess you accordingly"

We all collected a sample of our potions and queued up at Snapes desk. He smirked at Draco and I.

"You two wait, I want to save the best for last"

Draco elbowed me, smirking. I laughed.

"Watch it Blondie, you'll spill the potion"

"Whatever"

After testing everyone's potions, he didn't dismiss anyone; he made us all gather round the desk.

"Finally, Miss Page..."

He took my potion and tested it. He smirked.

"Perfect. Again. Why is it, only one student can recreate any potion I ask for? Are the rest of you incompetent?..." Draco raised his hand; "put your hand down Malfoy, I know you wouldn't be able to make a potion unless you weren't sat next to her. If the rest of you are unable to make one Potion correctly when asked, I'm going to cut you all from this class! I'm sick of wasting my time with all you idiots when you're clearly incapable! Now...Amortentia..." he lifted up my sample; "as I've said before, is the most, powerful, love potion, in the world...Just, one drop, will make the taker fall head over heels, in love, with whomever supplied the Potion. Incapable all of rational thought, all he wants is to be with the one he loves..."

All the way through his dialogue he was staring at me. He continued his speech about being in love. Everyone else was stood bored, ignoring him. I however, was hanging onto every over-accentuated word that came from his mouth. He knew I was the only one listening, and looking, so he felt confident enough to stare at me as blatantly as he was. Finally the lesson ended. Snape and I smirked at each other until I left the room. Draco grabbed my arm and dragged me up to the courtyard.

"What happened to laying low?"

I shrugged; "I don't see why I should. Surely you saw the way Snape was looking at m whilst describing that Potion"

"Yeah! He looked like he was high on Happy Potion! Or Lust Potion, he looked like he wanted to dive on you and rip your clothes off!"

I shrugged; "whatever Malfoy...I know what he thinks of me"

"Oh really? Do you now! And how do you know that?"

"...He told me"

I began walking down to the Black Lake. Draco ran after me.

"Whoa what? He just straight out told you?"

"Well...Not in that way...We've been writing to each other"

"...Huh?"

"Right...Take a quill...And a piece of parchment-"

"-Yes I know how letters work! I'm just confused as to, since when did you and Snape become pen pals?"

I laughed; "since...That day I agreed to leave him alone for a while...He wrote me a letter telling me what was going on and stuff...And since then we've just been writing each other letters..."

"...Okay then...So...Is he in love with you or what?"

I shrugged; "I can't say...He's never actually confessed his love for me, he's just said he has very strong feelings for me"

"So...Why aren't you dating?"

"He's waiting for the right moment...That's all he's said...He's really secretive about that...I can tell he has something big up his sleeves"

Draco nodded, slightly impressed.

"Well, that's great...But-"

"-But?"

"But...When were you planning on telling me huh? Your best friend! I'm hurt Lenore! Real hurt! You've cut me deep with this one!"

I laughed and flung my arms round him.

"I'm sorry baby! I promise to never keep you in the dark about anything ever again!"

"...Did you just call me baby?"

"...No?"

He laughed.

"Y'know...I love it when you're happy like this. It makes boredom a whole lot more fun"

I smirked; "I always make things fun"

"Whatever"

"I do! For example...What do you say to my plan of this weekend..."

"Your plan being...?"

"Me, you, maybe Celeste, the twins, whoever...Go to Hogsmeade"

"Woo, sounds fun"

"Don't be sarcastic! I haven't finished yet! I'm just, building the tension! ...We go to Hogsmeade...Dressed up!"

He laughed; "dressed up as what?"

I shrugged; "whatever you want! Cowboy, gangster, prostitute"

"...You worry me sometimes"

"C'mon! It'll be fun!"

"Right? And what will you be going as?"

"Pirate wench! But, I'll be wearing more this time, it's a bit too chilly for next to nothing"

He laughed; "I may go as a pirate too"

"...We should all go as pirates! And Tempest can be our little mermaid mascot"

Draco groaned; "must we invite her?"

"Yes! You still have a chance until Snape admits he loves me"

He sighed; "fine!"

"So you'll do it?"

He shrugged; "sure. But if your friends come, they can't invite the Gryffindor!"

"Uh...I'll see what I can do...But, it'll be crap if it's just three of us going! We'll look like freaks! If there's a large group, it's funnier"

He laughed; "if they insist on Longbottom and whatever coming, we'll just get some of the Slytherins to come"

"Urgh, I'm not having Crabbe and Goyle chasing after me all day"

"Why? Just because they fancy you!"

"It's fucking gross! Their faces resemble scrambled eggs! After they've been thrown at a wall and been stepped on by London's commuters!"

He burst out laughing; "nice description...But, pirates are ugly"

"Are not! Pirates are sexy!"

"Since when? They're all old and have beards!"

"The young ones are sexy"

"There's also ugly ones!"

I sighed; "fine! You're damn bodyguards can come!"

"Great!"

"Anyway...Let's go run the idea past Celeste and the twins"

"By the way...The twins scare me"

I laughed; "what?"

"They're just...Weird, and in unison!"

I laughed even more; "you're fucking weird Draco!"

He shrugged; "compared to them, I'm the model of perfect mental health!"

I looked at him sceptically; "whatever Malfoy...You have less brain cells than them both combined!"

"Well that's nice of you!"

"I'm lovely, you know that!"

He rolled his eyes. I grinned and hugged him tightly.

"Anyway! We need to go find my girls!"

"You, need help!"

I laughed and grabbed his hand before running to the Hall to find them. Celeste was sat at the Gryffindor table with Neville, Dean, Seamus and Ron. Draco groaned.

"You wait here then you girl" I said before going over to them. They all greeted me happily except Ron.

"Celeste! I've come to proposition you"

She looked sceptical; "with what?"

"Fancy going to Hogsmeade in fancy dress this Saturday?"

"Fancy dress? What?"

"Draco and I are really bored and fancy doing something really random out of the blue! So, we're dressing as pirates and going off to Hogsmeade!"

She shrugged; "sure! But...Neville won't be able to come will he?"

"Uhm-no..."

She looked t Neville.

"...Okay, I'm sure I can drag myself away from him for a day"

I grinned; "awesome! We need the twins too!"

"Yeah, I'll speak to them...Anyway, you'd better get back to the grump before he explodes"

I looked back over at Draco, he had a bigger scowl on his face than Snape used to have. I laughed and nodded.

"See you at dinner"

"Bye!"

I ran back over to Draco and dragged him out of the Hall.

"So...Where to now?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Whatever ...I'm not bothered..."

"Helpful..."

He shrugged; "...Can you show me the letters you've been getting from Snape?"

"Uh...Sure!"

We went to the Ravenclass common room. He waited outside whilst I ran in and got the huge pile of letters. We went down to a random unused corridor and sat under a light. I sat reminiscing about how giddy I was when I first read the letters, whilst Draco read them, gagging every time Snape had written something sweet.

"Oh my God this is so disgusting! Snape doesn't have feelings!"

I rolled my eyes; "I think you'll find he does!"

"And they're all directed towards you! Yuck!"

I laughed and began reading over another letter. I couldn't stop myself grinning as I read it. I looked up and noticed Draco was looking at me oddly.

"Oh dear, you, have got it bad!"

I shrugged; "so what"

He laughed; "it's cute...My little baby sister is all grown up and falling in love...With a gross old man!"

"For the last time he's not a gross old man!"

He laughed more; "I'm sorry...But really. It's Snape!"

"Really? Wow! However did you guess that?"

"...The fact he's signed every one of these letters"

I laughed; "yeah...That's a dead giveaway"

"Yeah it is a bit...Oh well..."

"Anyway..."

We went back to reading the letters. Draco stopped and looked at me. I looked back.

"Yes?"

"You know before when Snape was giving his, fucking monologue on love potions...How high were you getting?"

I laughed; "what?"

"I could tell you were pretty much getting off on it"

"I was not! Sure it was...stimulating; in a NON sexual way may I add...But, like I said, it wasn't sexual"

"Oh yeah...Sure...Sure"

I sighed and glared at him.

"...I hate you sometimes"

"Liar! You love me at all times"

I laughed; "Sure...Sure"

He glared at me; "tell me you love me!"

I laughed harder; "I love you so much Draco Malfoy!"

"That's better!"

We laughed and swapped some letters to read.


	12. Chapter 12

Celeste and I modified our pirate outfits for today's trip to Hogsmeade. The twins had fashioned their own from scratch. Finally we were ready and went to go meet Draco and Blaise.

"Blaise! You make a pretty snazzy pirate!" Celeste said laughing. Blaise grinned and pulled his sword out.

"Come on now! To Hogsmeade!"

We all raised our swords in the air and ran towards the exit. On the way we ran into McGonagall and Snape.

"What on Earth are you lot doing?" McGonagall asked. We all laughed.

"Uh...We're going to Hogsmeade" Celeste replied.

"Dressed like that?"

"Uh...Yeah"

"Why?"

We all shrugged.

"Because...It seemed like a good idea" Jade said. I looked at Snape; he was smirking at us all. McGonagall sighed.

"If I find out you lot have been causing trouble in Hogsmeade you will be banned from going for the rest of the year!"

"Yes Professor"

She sighed and let us run past. We all burst out laughing when we got to the road that went to Hogsmeade.

"McGonagall was NOT impressed!" Draco said. I nodded.

"Snape found it rather amusing though"

"They ran into a gang of pirates! What's not funny about that?"

"Yeah, but surely McGonagall's the one with the sense of humour!"

I shrugged; "apparently not"

We messed about all the way to Hogsmeade.

"So...Where to first?" Blaise asked.

"Pirate voice Blaise!" I scolded. He sighed.

"Yargh-where to first?"

We laughed.

"To the Three Broomsticks! Yargh, we need us some rum!" Jade and Ruby shouted. We laughed and went into the pub. Everyone who was in there laughed when we went in.

"Get lost did ya?"

We laughed.

"Nay, we stopped to make port. Now we need our rum!" Celeste said. They laughed. We went to the bar. The bartender laughed.

"How can I help ye scurvy pirates?"

Draco laughed and ordered us drinks in the poshest voice he could muster. We got our drinks and pulled two tables to together. They all began chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey Draco...Where's Tempest?"

He shrugged; "didn't want to come"

"...Did you ask her?"

"Sure"

"Draco! You said you'd ask her!"

"I don't want her to come! I just want to have fun!"

I sighed; "fine"

We drank up before going round Hogsmeade. Everyone we saw seemed entertained by our outfits. We even got some free things from some shops we went into.

We finally went back to Hogwarts in time for dinner. We decided to have dinner in our outfits. Almost the entire school burst out laughing when they saw us. We grinned and sat on our own at the bottom of the Ravenclaw table.

"We're better than Santa; we bring joy to all that see us, just by dressing like pirates!" Blaise said laughing. We all laughed too. After dinner we hung around school until curfew. I collapsed down on my bed and sighed. Celeste laughed.

"Today was excellent! Nice plan Lenore"

I grinned; "thanks"

"We should do it again sometime" Jade said taking her hat off.

"Yeah...Not too soon though or it'll ruin the effect"

"Yeah..."

They all collapsed on their beds, tired out from the day's events. I sighed and grabbed my pillow. Underneath was a letter. It was off Snape. I wondered how the hell it got under my pillow. I opened it and read what was written;

"Lenore; I thoroughly enjoyed seeing you dressed as a pirate again today. It bought back memories. I wish to see you tomorrow in my office after lunch. Yours, Severus"

I smirked to myself and lay staring at the ceiling.

"Someone's happy...What's put you in a good mood?" Celeste asked. I grinned more.

"Nothing"

"Nothing huh? And nothing has you grinning like the Cheshire cat does it?"

"...Yes"

"Liar! Why are you so happy?"

I looked at the twins and sighed. They were gossiping about Fred and George. I looked back Celeste.

"Fine, I guess I could let you in on it too" I said, going under my bed to get the pile of letters.

"What do you mean you guess you could let me in on it? Let me in on what? What are you keeping from me?"

"Shush!"

I grabbed the letter from under my pillow and dragged her to the bathroom. I shoved the pile of letters into her chest.

"Here. These are all from Snape. We've been communicating this way about how we feel about each other since Halloween. Then a few minutes ago, I found this one under my pillow saying he wanted to see me tomorrow"

She sat down, quite amazed at what had been going on unbeknownst to her. She began reading several of the letters; "aww"ing where Draco had previously gagged. I smirked and watched her read.

"...This is so sweet! But, why didn't you tell me before?"

I shrugged; "I didn't really see a reason to tell anyone..."

"So who else knows? Draco?"

"Yeah...He felt left out"

"Well I feel bloody left out!"

I laughed; "I'm sorry, but, I don't ask for all the details on your and Neville's soppy moments"

She shrugged; "fair enough"

She carried on reading.

"So what do you think he's planning?"

I shrugged; "I have no idea...Some public declaration of his love for me?"

She laughed; "like what? A marriage proposal?"

I laughed too; "I highly highly doubt it"

"Aww! It'd be so sweet! You have to promise me that when you do marry him, I'm head bridesmaid!"

"Yeah, sure, IF we get married"

"Oh you totally will"

I laughed; "well...You can still be head bridesmaid in my dreams"

She laughed too; "aww, you've got it bad!"

"I do! Jeez!"

She passed me back the letters; "this is superly adorable!"

"Tell me about it!"

We grinned and went back into the dorm. I flopped down onto my bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next day after dinner I skipped down to Snapes office. The door was already open. He was sat at his desk. He looked up and smiled when he saw me.

"Get my note then?"

"I did..."

The door closed behind me.

"I'll just be a minute"

I nodded and took a seat whilst he finished marking some papers. He looked up and smirked at me.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"...Is it pirate related?"

He smirked; "no"

"Well then I'm totally clueless"

"Well, it's actually quite serious I'm afraid...This Christmas Party at the Malfoys, do you know who's going to be there?"

I shrugged; "a few friends?"

"How about...All the Death Eaters?"

"...What?"

"You know the Malfoys are notorious follows of Voldermort...As are your parents"

"Yeah...I hate it...But, why are you going to be there?"

He sighed and took my hands; "I was once one. And now a spy for Dumbledore's order, so, I need to pretend to be a member again"

"So...You're not actually a Death Eater?"

He shook his head; "no"

"Okay...Why did you need to tell me this?"

"I don't want you hearing it from the wrong person and taking it the wrong way"

I nodded; "but also, why now?"

He shrugged; "I thought it was the right time, and it'll give you more time to, take it in. If you found out when we got there, I was afraid you wouldn't understand"

I nodded; "well, thank you for telling me"

He smiled meekly and stroked my hands with his thumbs. I leant closer and kissed his cheek. He pulled me into a warm hug. I smiled and held onto him. We pulled away a while later.

"So...Onto a happier subject?" I asked. He smiled.

"May I presume it was your idea to dress up yesterday?"

I nodded; "yeah...We needed something to do...I liked dressing up as a pirate"

"You look good as a pirate! ...Have you read the paper?"

"Nahh, I hate the tabloid journalism"

"Yes, it ruins the newspaper, but sometimes, things turn up"

"...Like?"

"Like, an article on page fifteen about a certain group of teenagers rampaging through a nearby town"

I saw the paper on his desk. I picked it up and turned to page fifteen. There was a small article about me and the guys. There was also a picture of us stood being piratey. I laughed and read it.

"Wow...We cheered everyone in Hogsmeade up?"

He nodded and put an arm round my shoulders.

"You do...You cheered me up for sure"

"Good"

I snuggled up to him. He kissed my temple and held me tighter. We sat in silence for a while until he pulled away and sat behind his desk.

"...What?"

He sighed and hid his face in his hands. I went over and put my arms round him.

"Seriously...What?"

He shook his head and looked up.

"You should go?"

"...Why?"

"You just need to...Go"

I sighed and looked at him worriedly before leaving. I went to go find Draco. He was sat his friends from Slytherin in the courtyard. I sighed and sat on his knee. He looked at me sceptically.

"...Why are you sat on my knee?"

I shrugged and sighed.

"...What's wrong?"

"Nothing your friends need to know"

He rolled his eyes and pushed me off his knee. He dragged me over to a corner out of earshot.

"What's wrong?"

"Snape's being funny"

"How?"

"He asked me to see him, so I went and we talked about things that needed to be talked about...Then we were just sat in each other's arms in silence...Then he suddenly got all jittery...I'm worried"

Draco shrugged and clasped his hand on my shoulder.

"He'll be fine...He's just got a lot to worry about...What were you talking about anyway?"

"Him being a Death Eater"

He nodded; "yeah...Are you okay with it?"

"Yeah...How long have you known?"

He shrugged; "since forever? My dad kinda hates him because Voldermort likes him more"

"Your dad hates him?"

"Not in the way he hates Dumbledore...Just in the way it's like...Rivalry...Y'know?"

I nodded and thought about all the things I'd heard, trying to make sense of it all.


	13. Chapter 13

Winter came early and it had begun snowing mid-November. I was sat with Draco and Tempest in the courtyard watching it Snow. Draco had his arm round Tempest but refused to look at her. There were first years building snowmen in the corner and other kids having snowball fights. Draco had threatened them earlier that if we got hit with them he would hex them all the way to the hospital wing.

"I hate snow" Draco mumbled. I laughed and pushed him playfully.

"How can you hate it? It's so beautiful!"

"It's damn cold!"

"So? You get used to it"

"I don't want to get used to it! Why can't it be hot all the time?"

"Because it's horrible when it's hot! You feel all sticky and you can't sleep and...Autumns better...Nice and warm but not hot...The weathers grey, just how I like it"

"...Yeah but you're weird!"

"I love all weather, it's beautiful" Tempest sighed before getting up and dancing in front of us. I smirked and elbowed Draco. He glared at me.

"I am this close to just calling off the bet"

"But why would you do that? You'd be my slave all holidays!"

"There's no way it could be worse than this!"

Just grinned at him. He sighed.

"...Maybe it could..."

I laughed and hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry; I'll go easy on you"

"...I could carry on because technically you and Snape are having a bit of a rough patch, but still-"

"-Since when did I say we were having a rough patch?"

"Since you haven't been talking to him, or flirting as much"

"But we're still sending letters...He said we can't 'flirt' as much because students will get suspicious! So suck on that! AND he'll be at yours for Christmas!"

"...Shit! No way! Fuck this...I'm so giving up!"

"Officially or are you just preparing?"

"...I'll let you know tomorrow"

Tempest jumped back down next to Draco and smiled. He forced a smile and looked at me. I grinned and elbowed him.

"I'm getting cold...You guys fancy coming to the kitchens for a hot drink?"

Draco nodded and jumped up. I laughed and got up too.

"You coming Tempest?"

"...Uh...Yeah, I may..."

She slowly pulled herself up and swanned behind Draco and me. We sat by the fireplace drinking our drinks. Tempest never stopped smiling at Draco. Draco tried to avoid any eye contact with her; looking his drink, the floor, glaring at me. Every time I caught him glaring at me I flashed him a smirk and hinted towards Tempest. Draco sighed loudly.

"Why's there just nothing to do around here?"

I shrugged; "after so many years you've just done everything...Luckily, we don't have too long here left..."

He nodded; "true...But still! What time we have left is slowly killing me! I'm dying here!"

"Oh shut up! You're so melodramatic!"

He laughed; "I only emphasise the truth!"

"Emphasise? Exaggerate!"

"...Same thing!"

I laughed; "it's really not"

"Is too"

"Is not"

"Is too!"

"It's bloody well not!"

"You take the English language way to seriously sometimes!"

I shrugged; "someone needs to take it seriously! No one does anymore"

He shrugged too; "whatever!"

I rolled my eyes and finished my drink. We sat in silence. Tempest was sat in a daydream, grinning to herself. I sighed and looked around.

"I'm bored"

"Join the club"

"...I may go find something to do"

"You can't leave me!"

I laughed; "you and Tempest will have fun!"

He looked at Tempest, she was still daydreaming.

"Right? Stop bumming off to have sex with Snape!"

I laughed; "I am not! I just want to go on a wander in the snow!"

"I thought you hated the snow"

"...No Draco, YOU hate the snow"

"...Oh yeah"

I laughed and shook my head; "you are such an idiot!"

"Shut up!"

I patted his shoulder; "there there moron. Console your troubles over your drink. I'm gonna go bum off to have sex with Snape"

He laughed as I skipped out of the kitchen. I wandered slowly down to the Great Hall. Celeste and Neville were snuggled up on the steps outside. I smiled and slumped down next to them.

"I'm not interrupting am I?"

They smiled; "No. Not with Draco?"

"I was...I've left him to hang out with Tempest"

"Aww, you're so mean"

"What's wrong with Tempest?" Neville asked.

"He hates her"

Neville looked confused. Celeste smiled.

"Don't bother yourself with it. It's a random thing between her and Malfoy"

"...Why do you hang out with Malfoy? He's so evil, and you're so nice?"

I smiled and shrugged; "He's nice to me...We've been best friends as long as I can remember...He's only mean to you because one, you're a Gryffindor and two, you're friends with Potter"

"Harry's a nice, decent human being!"

I shrugged; "so's Draco. It all depends on what side you're on"

"So you're on the dark side?"

"No, I'm on the side that see's Draco for who he is, not what he appears to be"

Neville went to say something but Celeste shook her head. I sighed and went outside. I wandered with no particular direction or aim, other than to kill time. I passed Hagrids Hut; Harry, Ron and Hermione were there chatting to Hagrid. They stopped and glared at me as I walked by. Though I'd never bore any ill-will to any of them, they hated me purely for my friendship with Draco. I rolled my eyes and went towards the forest. There was no snow on the ground in the forest. I sat down on a large root and looked through the trees. It was almost silent aside from the chirping of the birds. I sighed happily and decided to go lie on a patch of grass nearby. I stared up at the tree branches thinking to myself. I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I awoke a few hours later, it was dark. I jumped up and jogged back to the castle. When I got in it was eerily quiet. I wandered the corridors to the Ravenclaw common room. No one was in. I figured they were all at dinner. I went down to the Great Hall to get myself some food. I'd just gotten there when Draco wandered out.

"Hey! Where did you bugger off to?"

I laughed to myself; "I fell asleep in the forest"

"Well that was a pretty stupid thing to do"

I shrugged; "I know...I couldn't help it though"

He rolled his eyes; "you getting some food?"

"Yeah"

"Go to the kitchens, there's nothing good left...And I need to talk to you"

"...About?"

"I'll tell you when we get there"

He dragged me up to the kitchens. I asked for a few sandwiches and sat with Draco by the fire.

"So what do you need to tell me?"

"You win the bet"

I grinned; "really?"

"Yeah...I kinda blew up on Tempest. I told her it was all a bet and she needed to get counselling"

"Aww! That's horrible!"

"I know, I actually feel bad about it. But she was driving me completely insane! She began talking about some creature that Luna made up!"

I nodded; "well, you going to apologise for being inappropriate?"

"I may do...If she doesn't run away from me every time I go near her"

I nodded and clasped my hand on his shoulder; "it'll be okay"

"Yeah...So, you not seen Snape?"

I shook my head; "I haven't seen him all day! I miss him!"

He laughed; "he misses you too. I encountered him earlier at dinner, he said he hadn't seen you all day and wondered where you were...He then got more worried when I said you ran off on your own"

I laughed too; "I should go see him and calm him down!"

"Yeah...Finish your sandwiches first"

I grinned and waited for Hoppy to bring me my food.

After I'd eaten I wandered down to the dungeons with Draco, hoping to bump into Snape. Eventually he turned up. Draco grabbed my arm and waved it about.

"I found her sir! She fell asleep in the forest"

Snape looked at me; "that's a bit dangerous isn't it?"

"Well...I'm fine, and I didn't mean to!"

He nodded and looked over Draco and I.

"Where are you two going?"

We shrugged; "anywhere...We've nothing to do"

"Come with me then"

"...Both of us?"

"Yes"

We nodded and followed Snape to his office. He sat behind his desk and began shuffling some papers. Draco and I stood in front of his desk.

"Well done. You've both volunteered to help me out for tomorrow's lesson"

Draco groaned; I laughed and elbowed him.

"What will we be doing?"

"Lenore, you'll be helping me ark, Malfoy, you'll be sorting some ingredients"

"Oh great, SHE get's the cushy desk job" Draco moaned. I smirked and pushed him before going behind Snapes desk. He had a chair next to his. He smirked at me before getting up to show Draco where his job was. I started marking the papers. Snape returned and sat next to me.

"Unorganised sir? Tut tut, this is unlike you"

He smirked; "well, I've been busy"

"Yeah yeah sir. You can't use the excuses you forbid from using"

"Yes I can. My things are more important than yours"

"Whatever, hypocrite!"

He smirked; "do as I say, not as I do"

I shook my head; "honestly sir, how're you supposed to raise children to be good and decent when you're bringing them up in a society which values exactly what you're trying to teach out of them"

He rolled his eyes; "everyone knows, no matter what level of evil children are exposed to, when they get to your age they do whatever they want!"

I laughed; "touché"

"Now get marking"

"Why do I volunteer for these things? I should just drop your ass in all the trouble you've created for yourself"

"How about I give you a detention for use of bad language and I set you this to do anyway?"

"...How about we don't speak for a while?"

He smirked and nodded. We carried on marking, listening to Draco's faint grumblings in the stock cupboard.


	14. Chapter 14

Finally it was Christmas. Draco and I were picked up at Kings Cross by some magical limo service. I couldn't stop grinning. Draco rolled his eyes and pushed me playfully.

"Shut up"

I laughed; "you're going to serve me on my every whim!"

He sighed; "at least the Christmas holidays are shorter than the summer holidays"

I nodded; "it sucks...But I'm going to make up for it"

"Oh please someone save me!"

I smirked and danced about in my seat. We got to the Malfoy Manor in about an hour. Lucius and Narcissa were stood at the front door to greet us. I jumped out of the limo and ran into their arms.

"Lenore! It's wonderful to see you again!" Narcissa said smiling. I grinned back at them. Draco wandered over. Lucius rest his hand on his shoulder.

"Welcome home son"

Draco smiled meekly; "it's be better if I wasn't her slave"

They looked at us oddly.

"Care to explain?"

"At the beginning of the year, Draco challenged me to a bet, he lost and now he's my slave until we go back to school"

Lucius smirked; "unlucky Draco"

"Tell me about it"

"Come on inside before we all get ill" Narcissa said ushering us inside. The Malfoy Manor was amazing beautiful and full of age-old furniture which, combined, was worth more than the house. We went through to the living room. We'd just sat down when a butler scurried in.

"May I get you anything?"

"Firewhiskey for me and good lady, children?" Lucius said.

"Can I have Firewhiskey too?" Draco asked. Lucius contemplated it.

"A small one"

The butler nodded and looked at me.

"Uh...Some Cocoa?"

"Of course"

He scurried off again.

"When are my parents arriving?" I asked.

"Everyone will be here in two days"

"Does that include Snape?" Draco asked. Lucius nodded.

"Indeed"

Draco sighed and looked around. The butler came back with the others' drinks.

"Your drink will be here shortly"

I nodded and smiled. We all talked and caught up for a good half hour before Narcissa had Draco show me my room. Even though this was my second home and Id had the same room since I'd first stayed here age 3, we knew it really meant "sod off and let us talk". Draco dived onto my bed.

"So...What're we going to do all holidays?"

I shrugged; "well, there's definitely more to do here than at school...We can go out shopping or...Whatever"

He nodded and rolled off my bed. I wandered round and sat in the window.

"How much are you going to stalk Snape?"

I laughed; "every moment he thinks he has alone, I'll be there"

Draco laughed too; "poor him"

"He likes it!"

"Yeah, I guess...Do you think he's going to unveil his plan any time this holiday?"

I shrugged; "I hope so, it's annoying the hell out of me that he's plotting something"

"Of course it's annoying when you say he's plotting! It sounds bad when you say that!"

I laughed; "well, it's Snape! He never plans! He plots!"

Draco laughed and nodded; "true...True..."

"Anyway, get lost Blondie, I want to unpack"

Draco nodded and left. I put all my clothes in the wardrobe and drawers and piled my books next to my bed. I jumped down on my bed and stared up at the canopy above me. I thought about all the things I wanted Draco to do. I started penning my ideas down on a piece of paper, giggling as some extremely random ones came into my head. Just then there was a knock on my door.

"Come in!"

Narcissa came in. She smiled at me and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Lucius thought it would be best if I informed you about this Christmas' events..."

"...Do you mean this being a Death Eater meeting?"

She nodded; "who told you?"

"Snape?"

"Why would he tell you?"

"I'm not sure...He just told me why he would be here"

"Well yes...And I know you're not keen on the idea of becoming a Death Eater, but for the sake of this going smoothly, will you please just go along with anything that happens?"

"As long as Voldermort doesn't try to rope me into his group, I'll be happy to"

She nodded; "I doubt he will, and I'll make sure Lucius does all he can to ensure it doesn't happen"

"Thank you"

She smiled and hugged me before leaving. I'd been alone for just over a minute when Draco burst into my room.

"Right I'm bored! What shall we do?"

I shrugged; "I'm hungry! When's dinner?"

He looked at the clock; "should be in about an hour"

I groaned; "really? Can we go outside then? If I smell food I'm going to start killing people"

He laughed; "sure, c'mon"

We raced downstairs to the back yard, where there was almost a foot and a half of untouched snow. I tripped Draco up, sending him to the floor face first. I burst out laughing, almost falling to the floor myself. Draco got up and glared at me.

"You're a bitch!"

I laughed and ran away from him. He chased me round the garden before it turned into a snowball fight. Eventually we both almost looked like snowmen. The butler came outside.

"Uh, dinner, is now served!"

We ran inside and dusted off the snow before joining everyone at the dinner table. We sat shivering throughout the meal.

"Why don't you two go get changed and warm up before returning for desert?" Narcissa suggested. We nodded and went upstairs. I hung a set of clothes on the radiator whilst I had a quick warm soak in the bath. I was ready in fifteen minutes. I ran

back downstairs. Draco was already there, still looking slightly cold. Desert hadn't been served yet so I was fine.

"All better?" Narcissa asked. I nodded and took my seat.

After we'd eaten we went to the living room again to talk more.

"So what was this bet you lost?" Lucius asked.

"We kind of dared each other to seduce someone over the school year. I got annoyed with mine and told her to, well, go away? And kind of forfeit the bet...Hence, I lost" Draco sighed. They nodded.

"So, who were the victims?"

"I had to do Tempest Reed"

Lucius eyed him suspiciously; "the half-blood lunatic?"

"Lunatic isn't the word! She belongs in a mental asylum!"

"And who did you have to seduce Lenore?" Narcissa asked. I looked uneasily at Draco. He shrugged.

"Uh...It doesn't matter...I didn't have to anyway. Draco got annoyed with Tempest before I could even plan to make a move on mine"

"But still, who was it?"

I saw Draco mouth; "lie"

"Uh...Dean Thomas"

"...The Gryffindor?"

"Yeah...He's dating Ginny Weasley, my bet was more to see if I could break them up"

Lucius laughed; "you two are so devious"

We smirked at each other. We talked until late in the evening.

Two days later Draco and I were dressed in our finest. I was wearing long black and dark purple dress. We were stood in the ballroom, waiting for everyone to arrive. Crabbe and Goyle had already arrived, as had some of the Death Eaters. My parents were next to arrive. They hurried over to me and hugged me tightly.

"Lenore! We've missed you! How has your first semester been?"

I smiled; "it's been great! Draco and I have had all sorts of fun"

They smiled even more and hugged me again. Eventually all but one had arrived. I stood next to Draco and Lucius.

"Where's Snape?"

Lucius sighed and shook his head; "he said he'd be late"

Draco nodded and looked at me. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him. Just then Bellatrix came over.

"Sissy! How are we?" she asked hugging Narcissa. They talked before she looked down at me. She grinned.

"Lenore? My my, haven't we grown"

I smiled meekly. She grabbed my face and lifted my chin.

"You've inherited your mother's flawless looks, she would make a good wife for young Draco" she said to Lucius. Draco and I looked at each other, totally horrified. Lucius laughed graciously.

"She would"

He agreed with Bellatrix's crazy notions with no intentions of carrying them out. Eventually Snape turned up. He marched straight over to the Malfoys.

"Apologies for my severe tardiness. Something, arose" he said before looking down at me. I smiled sweetly at him before looking away. Lucius nodded.

"It's perfectly fine," he looked to Narcissa; "shall we begin this?"

She smiled and took his arm. Snape came and stood next to me whilst Lucius announced the beginning of the holidays. Draco wandered off, leaving Snape and me alone.

"You look lovely"

I smiled; "this old thing? I throw it on when I'm feeling low"

He smiled; "you're feeling low?"

"Not really...So...Why so late?"

"Business with the Order"

I nodded; "fair enough..."

We stood in each other's company in silence until someone came to talk to Snape. I decided to go speak to my parents.

"Mum...Would you ever marry me off to Draco?"

She laughed; "of course not! I know he's the brother you never had"

"Thank God! Bellatrix thinks we should get married"

My mum shook her head; "she just wants the blood-line to continue as pure as possible"

"...Don't you?"

"Yes, but I know that if you fall in love you fall in love"

I smiled; "does dad know that?"

"Of course not! And you'd do well not to tell him!"

I laughed and nodded; "you're secret's safe with me!"

"So I saw you speaking with Snape, quite casually, are you two on familiar terms?"

I shrugged; "we've been getting on scarily well since the beginning of school...He thinks I have brilliant abilities in Potions"

"Oh wonderful! So he's putting in extra effort with you?"

"I guess so...I've been assisting him with his first year class because I have a free period then, and, I'm helping him with his marking"

"Lazy git, can't he do it himself?"

I laughed; "I'm sure he could, he just seems to be really busy this year"

"Well, as long as he's keeping you busy"

I smirked and looked over to Snape. He was speaking with Crabbes parents. He left them and stood alone by the wall. I slipped away and went over to him.

"Having fun?"

He sighed; "not particularly. Social gatherings aren't my thing"

"Really? And here I thought you were Mr Social"

He smirked; "of course you did, you naive thing"

"I'm not naive!"

"I know you're not"

"So what's this Christmas got in store for us?"

He shrugged; "I can't say"

"Can't say or won't say?"

He smirked and rest his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't be getting nosey"

I sighed and glared at him playfully.


	15. Chapter 15

I woke up nice and early and got ready for the day. The only people who were up were the servants. I wandered across the landing to Draco's room. I slipped in quietly. He slept in weird positions, I laughed at today's, left leg and right arm sticking out of the bed and his head under the pillow, the covers coiled round his waist. I smirked and grabbed a pillow that had fallen on the floor. I put a silencing charm on the room, so no matter how much noise was made in here no one would hear. I accioed my stereo and put in a heavy metal album. I turned the volume all the way up and placed it on his bedside table. I slowly pulled the pillow off his head, careful not to wake him; before turning the music on and hitting him with the pillow. He dived out of bed and fell onto the floor in a startled daze. I turned the music off and fell onto his bed, laughing. He finally came to and stood up, glaring at me. 

"You! Are a fucking evil bitch!" 

I carried on laughing. Draco looked round to his clock. He was even more unimpressed. 

"Half five? What? You're evil! Get out of my sight!" 

He grabbed his covers and pillow and pushed me off the bed, crawling in himself. 

"No no Draco! You're my slave! And slaves get up early in the morning! Come on! You have three

weeks of work ahead of you" 

He sighed and flopped down. 

"Why me?" 

"You lost the bet! Now come on!" 

"What am I doing today?" 

"I don't know yet...I'll go to my room and get the list whilst you get dressed" 

"You made a list?" 

"Yup! Now come on! Chop chop!" 

He sighed and rolled out of bed. I wandered back to my room. I'd managed to compile a two page list of things I wanted Draco to do for me. The first one was to make me breakfast. I grinned and put on my pirate hat and grabbed my sword. I went back down to Draco's room. He was abouts to put on a turtleneck sweater when I jabbed him in the ass with my sword. 

"Hey what the fuck!" he asked, spinning round. 

"No sweaters! They make you look fat! Put your dinner jacket on!" 

He sighed and grabbed it. 

"Why are you wearing your pirate hat?" 

"Because I'm the pirate goddess! Now come on! You're making me breakfast!" 

We went down to the kitchens, the cooks and maids were startled to see us. 

"Master Malfoy! Miss Page! What are you doing up so early? Can we get you anything?" 

"No thank you Alfonso, Draco's making me breakfast today...But you could oversee him to make sure he doesn't poison me" I said grinning. 

"He's not called Alfonso" Draco whispered. 

"He is now! Come on!" I said holding my sword in the air. Draco sighed and went over to the newly-named Alfonso. "Also Draco, for the rest of this year, you must refer to me as m'lady" 

Draco sighed and nodded; "so, what would you like for breakfast, m'lady?" 

I grinned; "I want...Rice Crispies!" 

Draco glared at me; "you want me to make you some cereal?" 

"...And toast! And some coffee...Cappuccino!" 

"Yes...M'lady" 

"Sweet" 

I sat down next to one of the maids and watched Draco begrudgingly make me a bowl of Rice Crispies. He put it down in front of me. 

"Uh...Where's the sugar?" 

"Sugar?" 

"Yup, I want sugar on my Crispies!" 

He sighed and went to fetch the sugar. I looked at the maid. 

"Do you want anything? I'll get Blondie to get it for you" 

She laughed; "nah, I'm good thank you" 

"Fair enough. Come on Draco! Where's my toast?" 

I had Draco running round after me all morning. Finally other people in the house woke up. I was sat in the living room reading a book, Draco knelt in front of me as my foot-stool when Snape walked in. He stopped abruptly in the doorway when he saw us. 

"...Do I want to know?" 

I laughed; "he lost a bet, and now he's my slave all Christmas" 

"...Sounds great" 

"It is, would you like anything to eat?" 

"I was going to go to the kitchen and-" 

"-No need! He'll do it!" 

He looked at Draco and smirked. 

"Ok then...Just a Butterbeer" 

"Go Mowgli go!" 

Draco glared at me went off to the kitchen. Snape smirked and sat next to me on the sofa. 

"You're so cruel" 

I grinned; "I know...But how great is it? Later I'm going to have him dance for me" 

"Oh?" 

"Yup" 

I handed him the list. He chuckled at several of the things written down. 

"Do you really think he's going to do all of these things?" 

"He has to! He's my slave!" 

"Oh yes, why are you wearing your pirate hat?" 

I grinned; "it makes me feel more in charge. And when he gives me attitude...I jab him in the butt with my sword" 

I hinted at my sword. He smirked. Draco came back and handed Snape his drink. I pointed at the floor. He sighed and got back on his hands and knees. I grinned and put my feet up on him. 

"So...What are you up to today?" 

Snape shrugged; "nothing as far as I know" 

"Sounds fun...Want to join me in making Blondie's Christmas miserable?" 

Draco began whimpering to himself. 

"Silence slave!" I said, jabbing him with my sword. Snape smirked. 

"I don't think you need any help; you're doing a good job on your own" 

I smirked; "you sure? It'll be fun!" 

"I'm sure it will, but I don't think Lucius would like me to torment his child" 

"I'll smooth over Lucius, no worries" 

Snape smirked; "still, I'll refuse" 

"Spoil sport" 

"Anyway...Can I talk to you?" 

"Yeah...Blondie, take a walk" 

Draco sighed and wandered out of the room. I turned slightly to look at Snape. 

"Well?" 

He sighed and took my hand; "I just thought I should tell you...You really do mean, a lot, to me...And I need to know...Do you want to be with me?" 

I nodded; "yeah! ...Why?" 

"You'll see soon enough; I hope" 

I nodded slowly; "ok?" 

"Don't worry...You'll know when it happens" 

"All right" 

He smiled and stroked my cheek. I smiled too and kissed him softly. 

"Anyway...I'll see you at lunch" 

I nodded and watched him walk off. Draco came back in. He sat down next to me. 

"So? So?" 

I smirked; "I don't know, he was being secretive" 

"Damn him..." 

"Yeah..." 

"So what other kind of stupid things will you have me be doing?" 

I shrugged; "whatever I feel like" 

He sighed; "can I at least have a rest for now?" 

"Sure" 

We hung around in the living room all morning. Crabbe and Goyle and a few others of the kids joined us. I sighed and looked around; everyone was preoccupied chatting about meaningless things. Draco was trying to shoo away some five year old girl who wouldn't leave him alone. She was trying to sit on his knee and play with his hair. I smirked and decided to go for a wander. I walked past a door which was slightly ajar. I heard Lucius and Snape talking. 

"But she's about 30 years younger than you!" 

"I know...But I love her" 

"So what are you going to do?" 

"The only way we can be together is if we marry" 

"You're going to marry her?" 

"The only catch is, I can't just straight-forward ask her" 

"Why not?" 

"Her father" 

"...Ahh yes...So, what ARE you going to do?" 

"Have the marriage arranged" 

"By who? There's no one in the world that could persuade her father to marry her off to the likes of

you" 

"Really?" 

"...What are you thinking?" 

"I need you...To go to Voldermort" 

"Voldermort? Yes! Her meddling father would do anything if Voldermort asked...But why me?" 

"I can't ask him to persuade them into it...I need you to tell him, it's a perfect match if he wants her to join us" 

It went silent, I couldn't help grinning to myself. I ran off before I was caught eavesdropping. I went up to my room and lay down on my bed daydreaming. Finally we were all called for lunch. I went down to the dining room. I had to sit in between Goyle and Draco. All the way through the meal I saw Snape smirking at me and Lucius giving me odd looks. After the meal Lucius pulled me to the kitchens. 

"I've been talking to Severus...He tells me you have feelings for him too...I need to hear it from you" 

I nodded; "I do have feelings for him, strong feelings...why?" 

"He's asked me to do a bit of arranging on his behalf...I just need to be sure that you want this..." 

"Can't sell off your adoptive daughter?" 

He smiled; "I want to know you'll be happy with him. As you say, you're practically my daughter" 

I smiled too; "I will be happy with him" 

He nodded; I hugged him tightly. He hugged me back. I left the kitchens and went to go find Draco.

He was sat out on the veranda watching it snow. I jumped down next to him. 

"Hey!" 

He smirked; "you're happy" 

"Why shouldn't I be?" 

"I dunno...What's happened?" 

"I overheard Snape and your dad talking...Snape loves me!" 

He laughed; "So you would have won regardless?" 

"Yup! And...If all goes to plan, I'm going to marry him!" 

"What? Whoa! How?" 

"Lucius is gonna put forward the idea of Snape and I marrying to Voldermort...Saying it's going to be like, a good way to guarantee me being a Death Eater...Voldermort's the only person my dad would listen to, and sell his daughter off for" 

Draco nodded; "it's all so complicated!" 

"I know...But totally worth it!" 

"So if you get married during the holidays...Am I going to have to wear a dress?" 

I laughed; "as tempting as it is...I don't want your ugly mug in a dress ruining my wedding" 

He laughed too; "how do you know I won't be hot in a dress?" 

"It's a good test...Let's try it out" 

"...What?" 

"Crabbe and Goyle can join you, don't worry, you won't be doing it alone" 

"Won't be doing what alone?" 

"...The can-can!" 

"Oh hell no!" 

"You're my slave! You do as I say!" 

"This is just...Preposterous!" 

"I know, I come up with the best ideas!" 

"See, if I'd won, you'd just have been my serving wench...And worn a serving wench outfit" 

I smirked; "well, you lost! And quite pitifully may I add!" 

"Oh shut up!" 

I laughed and pushed him playfully.


	16. Chapter 16

"This is just inhumane!" Draco moaned. I grinned. 

"Shut up and look pretty" 

He sighed and looked at Crabbe and Goyle. I'd managed to get them into old Western show girls' dresses, complete with make-up and headbands. I went over to the gramophone and put the needle onto the record. For the time being I was the only one in the room. The music began. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle stood motionless. I sighed. 

"Get dancing!" 

They all groaned and began dancing. I grinned and scurried over to the door. I pulled it open to reveal all of the guests that seemed entertained by the idea of Draco dancing in a dress; including his parents and Snape. Everyone came into the room and began laughing – except Snape, who doesn't laugh. Draco stopped dancing. 

"What? This is not fair!" 

"Dance!" 

"No!" 

"DANCE!" 

He sighed and carried on dancing. Snape came over to me. 

"How did you get them to do the can-can?" 

I smirked and shrugged; "Draco's my slave...I let him rope Crabbe and Goyle into it so he wasn't alone...I think Draco looks pretty in a dress, don't you?" 

He shrugged; "I'm not saying anything" 

I laughed and elbowed him. I looked around the room; everyone seemed to be enjoying the three boys doing the can-can, even Lucius found it funny. Eventually the song stopped and Draco was allowed to tend to his emotional wounds in his room. I slipped away with Snape to the garden. 

"How much of my plan have you found out?" 

I shrugged; "all of it?" 

He smirked; "do tell" 

"You're going to get Lucius to, I guess, trick Voldermort into making my dad make me marry you" 

"Very good...How do you feel about the whole thing?" 

I shrugged; "I wish it could be a lot simpler..." 

"As do I...But your father wishes you to marry someone, of, well, pure-blood" 

"You're not?" 

"No" 

I looked at him, totally startled; "but you're like, Voldermorts right-hand-man!" 

"Voldermort himself is only half-blood" 

"Well...You learn something new every day" 

He smirked and rest his hand on my shoulder. We wandered down the path to the severely oversized gazebo at the bottom of the garden. We sat on the bench provided. 

"So if all goes to plan, when do you suspect the wedding will be?" 

He shrugged; "I have no idea...Why, is there any specific time you it to be?" 

I shook my head; "not really" 

He nodded and slid his arm round me. I smiled to myself and leant into him. 

"...Lenore...Be honest with me. What was this bet?" 

I sighed; "well, hear me out before you react..." he nodded; "okay...Firstly may I express it was totally Draco's idea...Anyway. At the beginning of this year, he suggested we try and seduce someone of each other's choice...I chose Tempest, and he chose you. So the bet was to make whoever fall in love with them first. For Draco it was going to be near-impossible because he and Tempest are so ill-matched he'd sooner be dating Harry Potter...But, I think...2 years ago? I kinda had a random crush on you...But it went away...Then as soon as Draco said I had to 'seduce' you, I had a feeling it would come back...And when I ran into you, literally, on the first day after the feast it came back. Then it went from a bet to more of a personal mission...I actually wanted to be with you...And it all kind of went from there" 

He nodded slowly; "interesting..." 

"So...You're not pissed off or, feeling betrayed or-" 

"-Why would I? I think I have my own confession. You'd always been my favourite; you were as close to me as Draco was, only you were intelligent. But you faded into the background, just a student. Then, towards the end of last year, I encountered you more and more, and paid more and more attention to you, and noticed how mature, intelligent and attractive you were. Before I could do anything stupid the year ended. Then, when you ran into me, literally on the first day of this year, my feelings came back...And you may think I'm old and don't notice many things; but I am quite aware when a girl is flirting with me!" 

I smirked and pretended to be innocent. 

"So like I said, I'm not an idiot, and I could tell your flirting was...Genuine, not just some kid trying to act mature and grow up faster than Harry Potter gets into trouble. So, I decided to, investigate? And found out you liked me..." 

"...How?" 

"I overheard you speaking with your friend Celeste once" 

"...Really?" 

"Yes" 

"...Oh" 

He smirked and squeezed me softly. 

"So...all is well and good between the two of us" 

"I guess it is" 

I smiled to myself and snuggled up to him, he held me close to his chest. It began snowing again. I looked up to the house and saw Draco peering out of his window. I smirked; he gave me the thumbs up and left. 

"So who besides Celeste and Draco know?" 

"Uh...Tempest knows for some reason...The twins just thought it was the bet" 

He nodded and kissed my temple. I looked up. 

"Did Dumbledore know?" 

"...Yes...He said it would be unwise for me to pursue a relationship with you" 

"Why?" 

"Our situation...My being a spy...Your parents being loyal Death Eaters..." 

"...Even though I don't wish to pursue being involved with Voldermort?" 

He nodded; "until this is all over, he said it wouldn't be safe" 

"So, you're directly disobeying his wishes and trying to marry me?" 

"I know I can keep you safe...Though by doing so you'll have to be as close to danger as possible..." 

"...I'd have to become a spy too?" 

"Not exactly...Just pretend you're loyal to Voldermort. The Order will know you're not involved" 

I nodded and snuggled up to him again. 

"I don't mind..." 

"Really?" 

"I know you'll be able to look after me" 

He smiled and squeezed me. We sat outside until I began shivering. He smiled and kissed the top of my head. 

"Come on, you're cold" 

"Aren't you" 

He smirked; "I'm always cold" 

I smirked too. I got up and pulled him up with me. We wandered back inside. We bumped into

Lucius. 

"Hello you two...Have a nice walk in the snow?" 

I smiled; "we did...Did you enjoy your sons dancing?" 

He smirked; "it was very enjoyable" 

"Glad you liked it" 

"You know...If this plan is to work...You two need to stop cavorting with each other in front of

everyone!" 

"As far as everyone else is concerned, I was discussing her future career-wise with her" Snape said. Lucius smirked and shook his head. 

"Don't be getting in over your heads" 

"We won't...Anyway...I'm going to go see if Draco's ready to show his face in public again" 

They smirked. I ran off upstairs to Draco's room. He was lay on his bed reading. I smirked and jumped down next to him. 

"Draco Malfoy? Reading? This is unheard of!" 

"Sod off" 

I laughed and punched his leg. 

"I'm bored" 

"Why don't you go suck face with Snape?" 

"He's only got so much face" 

"So move to somewhere else" 

I punched his leg harder. 

"Git" 

He smirked and put his book down. 

"What do you want?" 

I shrugged; "dunno, thought I'd come hang out with you" 

"No more stupid jobs for me to do?" 

"Not today, I think you've had enough humiliation" 

"Good! ...Your dress is there by the way" 

I smirked and looked at one of my old Halloween dresses crumpled up in the corner of his room. 

"You looked nice in it by the way" 

"Shut up" 

"Snape agrees" 

"Thank you for ensuring I'll have nightmares tonight!" 

I laughed; "c'mon Draco! Come play with me!" 

"What's wrong? Snape doesn't satisfy you?" 

"Fine, screw you then! I'll go think of more humiliating things for you to do!" I said getting up. He

jumped up and restrained me from leaving. 

"No no, I didn't mean it!" 

I smirked; "that's what I thought!" 

He sighed and sat down. 

"So what shall we do?" 

I shrugged; "whatever. You think of something" 

He shrugged; "I dunno...What were you and Snape talking about?" 

"Uh, I told him what the bet was a stuff, and he told me he secretly fancied me at the end of last

year...And we kinda talked about getting married" 

"That's what we can do! Let's plan your wedding!" 

I laughed; "isn't that what girls do?" 

"You're a girl right?" 

"You're not" 

He shrugged; "I can help plan your wedding" 

I shrugged too; "I guess so...But I don't want any shit suggestions!" 

He nodded; "okay..." 

We sat on his bed planning each other's weddings. 

"White dress..." 

I glared at him. 

"...Green dress?..." 

I just carried on staring. 

"...Black dress" 

"Bingo" 

He rolled his eyes. 

"Ok...Big wedding or small wedding?" 

I shrugged; "small...I don't want half a billion distant relatives there...I'd rather have a few really close friends and things" 

He nodded; "so...Me...Mummy and Daddy...My parents...That's about it" 

I punched his arm; "stop being a prick!" 

He laughed; "I know you have more friends than that! But...How many people would come to see Snape marry?" 

I went silent. Draco looked at me, waiting for a response. 

"I would have said Dumbledore...Maybe some other teachers..." 

Draco shook his head; "I doubt it" 

I nodded and thought to myself. 

"Anyway, don't let Snapes unpopularity get you down on your wedding day! I'm sure your friends and family will think he's a catch!" 

I laughed; "in what way?" 

"In the way...He could look after you? I'm sure he's secretly loaded..." 

"Alright then? Because I don't have enough money?" 

"...Have some more!"

"I don't want more! I just want to be loved!" 

He laughed and hugged me; "even if Snape turns out to be an evil dick, I'll love you forever!" 

"Aww, I love you too Draco!" 

We laughed and pulled away.


	17. Chapter 17

A week before Christmas; Voldermort arrived at Malfoy Manor. I refused to leave my room whilst he was came. Draco came into my room and sat on my bed. 

"You know you're going to have to face him...He won't let make you marry Snape otherwise" 

I sighed and nodded; "I guess...But, I just don't want to be around him..." 

"Yeah; but still...C'mon. You can hide behind me or Snape or someone..." 

I nodded and went downstairs with him. Everyone was in the living room listening to Voldermort. I grabbed onto Draco's arm as we stood behind the sofa. I felt someone rest their hands on my shoulders; I looked up, my mum smiled down at me. Lucius, Bellatrix and Snape were the only ones talking to Voldermort. I stood, trying to ensure he didn't notice me. Luckily he didn't, after the meeting I practically ran out. I was halfway up the stairs when Snape called me down. He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled meekly. 

"You looked tense in there" 

"I was" 

He sighed and led me to the library; no one ever really went in there. We sat down in the two large armchairs. He sat on the edge and held my hands tightly. 

"You know you're going to have to face him sooner or later? He's going to want to, assess you" 

I sighed and nodded; "I just don't want to...The plan sounded great until he actually got here" 

He squeezed my hand; "you'll be fine, just answer his questions as short as you can" 

"Ok" 

We stared at each other for a while. 

"...Will Voldermort go for it?" 

"Huh?" 

"This whole, arranged marriage business" 

"I suspect he will; Lucius can be extremely persuading" 

I nodded. We sat in silence for a while until he stood up. 

"Come on, let's go join people"  
He helped me up. We went to go find people. Draco was talking to Lucius at the bottom of the stairs. They both smirked when they saw us. 

"Where did you two disappear to?" Lucius asked. 

"I was just checking she was alright" Snape said. 

"Why would she need consoling?" 

"She's terrified of Voldermort" Draco replied. Lucius nodded. 

"Fair enough, anyway Severus, I need to speak to you" 

Draco and I left and went to the kitchens. We got some drinks and sat talking. 

"What are you so afraid of?" 

I looked at him; as if to say 'are you kidding?' 

"You are aware he has no qualms about killing anyone?" 

"Well...Yeah...But, he wouldn't!" 

"Why wouldn't he?" 

"Uh..." 

"Thank you for verifying that!" 

It went silent between us. 

"...So, Snape was prepping for your meeting with him?" 

I nodded; "telling me to just answer questions and things" 

"Yeah...He's not that bad...I'm sure he'll go easy on you because of like, well, my family, and your family, and the fact you'll be marrying Snape..." 

I shrugged; "he could still be pretty harsh" 

"He could, but I doubt he will...Just relax!" 

I sighed and looked around. 

"Anyway come on, drink up. I think we should go shopping" 

"...You? Want to go shopping?" 

"Yeah! Why can't I want to shop?" 

"No reason" 

He smirked and hit me playfully. 

"I still own you! Hit yourself!" 

He sighed and slapped himself. 

"Happy? Can we go now?" 

"Yes" 

We went upstairs and got ready to go out. We then went to the living room to floo to Diagon Alley. 

"And where are you two going?" Narcissa asked before we could leave. 

"We're going shopping...It's something to do" Draco replied. She nodded. 

"Don't be getting into mischief!" 

"We won't!" 

She kissed our cheeks before letting us go. Draco rolled his eyes and wiped it away. I laughed and grabbed a handful of floo powder. Draco and I wandered around Diagon Alley for a while, it was beautiful at Christmas. 

"Right...We need to get presents" I said. Draco nodded. 

"Who first?" 

"...Parents!" 

"Let's buy mumsy and nice piece of jewellery" 

I laughed and dragged him to the jewellers. We browsed at all the necklaces and bracelets. 

"Fuck buying for mother, I want some of this shit!" 

Draco laughed; "I'll buy you something too...What do you want?" 

I grinned; "I love you Blondie!" 

I pulled him over to a gothic black choker. He smirked and checked the price. 

"Is that all? Don't you want anything else?" 

"I'll find something...Anyway...Back to mother dearest" 

Eventually after a few hours of shopping we'd gotten all the presents. We sat in a cafe drinking

some coffee. 

"Well this has been a busy day!" 

"It has! We got a lot done!" 

"I think this Christmas is gonna be great" 

"Of course it is! I'm here! AND, I'm gonna marry Snape" 

Draco laughed; "oh dear, you've got yourself a fair few issues!" 

I laughed too; "what? You should be happy you at least have my company! And if you were marrying the girl of your dreams you might just be as happy as I am!" 

He shrugged; "I guess...But still..." 

"Stop trying to bring me down! I'm happy! Leave me be!" 

"Ok ok! You do your little happy dance!" 

"I will! Don't you worry about it!" 

He laughed and finished his coffee; "anyway, we should go" 

I nodded and finished my drink too. We went back home. We had to run upstairs to ensure no one saw us. I hid all my presents in my wardrobe. I flopped down on my bed and sighed. Someone knocked on my door and came in. It was Lucius. He sat down next to me on my bed. I looked up at him questioningly. 

"Did you have fun today?" 

I shrugged; "yeah...Draco and I usually have fun" 

He smiled; "good...I spoke with Lord Voldermort today. He's actually thrilled with the idea of you marrying Snape. He believes it'll pull you closer into becoming one of us. He'll speak with your parents shortly; if all goes to plan you could be Mrs Snape before you go back to school" 

I grinned; "really?" 

"Yes" 

"Wow...Does he not want to speak to me?" 

"Not right now...As far as he's concerned you're not actually involved in this, you're to be married

whether you want to be or not. He'll speak to you with Snape...You must know, when he announces the marriage you have to act shocked" 

I nodded; "I'll try...Does Snape have to act surprised?" 

"Yes, though it'll be easier for him because we all know, Snape shows no emotion" 

I laughed; "very true...So, I'll have to practise my shocked face?" 

He smirked; "shall I leave you to it?" 

"Please" 

He patted my shoulder and left. A few minutes later I dashed across the landing to Draco's room. He was sat on his floor looking at his presents. He looked up and smirked. 

"Hey" 

I grinned and sat opposite; "hey" 

I looked around the room. I got up and went to put Draco's dinner jacket on. 

"You love that jacket" 

I nodded and looked in the mirror. 

"I do! I want my own...In purple" 

"I thought you had one" 

I shrugged; "I can't remember...If I do...I want another one" 

He laughed; "put it on your Christmas list, maybe Santa will get you one" 

I laughed and wandered round his room. For some reason my pirate hat was in the corner. I put that on too before lying on my stomach on his bed. 

"So what are you doing?" 

He shrugged; "nothing...Thinking about wrapping the presents" 

"Need help?" 

"If you want" 

I nodded and slid down next to him. I helped him wrap all the presents. 

"Your father came to speak with me before" 

"...Oh yeah? About what?" 

"He's spoken to...The Evil One!" 

He laughed; "so, is all going to plan?" 

"It seems so...Probably by tomorrow he'll be talking to Snape and I about the wedding" 

"Nice...I bet you're all giddy" 

"Is it that obvious?" 

"Actually, you're nice and calm" 

"Hold on..." 

I pulled my wand out and put a silencing spell on the room again. I began shouting inaudibly, jumping on his bed. I jumped off the bed and grabbed Draco by his top. I pulled him an inch from my face. 

"I'M MARRYING SEVERUS SNAPE!" 

He looked genuinely terrified. I shouted for a while longer before collapsing down on his bed. He looked at me worriedly. 

"...Okay...You are excited..." 

I grinned and began giggling. He rolled his eyes and continued wrapping presents. I finally came back to Earth and sat next to him. 

"All calm?" 

I shrugged; "ish" 

"What time is it?" 

"I dunno, your clock is right there" 

He looked up; "half six...Should be dinner time soon" 

I nodded; "this is going to be slightly awkward...I wonder if Voldermort's spoken to my parents yet" 

"He probably has...It may be the topic of conversation tonight" 

"Yeah...I have to pretend to be shocked" 

He laughed; "this should be funny" 

"I'm glad you're entertained!" 

"Oh I am!" 

Just then the dinner bell was sounded. I went to leave when Draco pulled me back. 

"Take off the hat" 

I laughed; "forgotten I had that on" 

I threw it onto his bed and raced Draco down to the dining room. Everyone was looking at me as I went to sit down. I sat between Draco and Lucius. Snape was sat opposite. No one spoke higher than a whisper until after the main course. Voldermort cleared his throat, demanding everyone's attention. 

"For once it's nice to have some good news...Miss Page; I have been approached with a brilliant

idea. I've spoken to your parents about it and they've agreed; you, are to marry our very own

Severus Snape" 

I pretended to be shocked as the rest of the room was genuinely shocked. I saw Snape flash me a quick smirk. 

"How do you feel about this Lenore?" my mum asked. I shrugged; trying to contain how excited I

actually was. 

"I guess I'm alright, not that I have much choice..." 

"I'm sure he'll make a good husband" Lucius said. I nodded. 

"Yes" 

Everyone began talking amongst themselves about it. Snape and I smirked at each other. Draco elbowed me occasionally, smirking at me. I laughed and elbowed him back.


	18. Chapter 18

I was sat in the living room with my parents, Snape, Voldermort and several other death eaters. My parents were sat on either side of me, my mum held my hands for reassurance. Voldermort, Bellatrix and Lucius were talking about the arrangement; Snape would occasionally smile at me.

"Lenore...You are okay with marrying Severus aren't you?" Lucius asked, pretending to be concerned. I shrugged to appear casual.

"Yeah I guess"

"You guess?"

"Well...Yeah I'm ok with it"

Voldermort grinned; "brilliant! We'll get you two wed as soon as possible!"

I nodded and pretended to be uneasy about the whole situation.

"When will they be marrying?" my mum asked.

"Christmas day!" Bellatrix said. Snape and I looked at each other, slightly shocked by this revelation.

"Christmas?" I asked. They nodded.

"Why waste time my dear? It'll be a grand day!" Luciuus replied. I nodded apprehensively. My mother squeezed my hands softly.

"You may leave now Lenore, leave us adults to talk" Bellatrix said. I nodded and left. I went up to Dracos room. He was sat in his armchair reading.

"Entertain me Blondie, I need something to do"

"Where's Snape then? Go do him" he replied, not even looking up from his book. I hit the book out of his hands and glared at him. He smirked and picked it up.

"What do you want me to do exactly? There's nothing we can do, there's only a few days until Christmas..."

"...I'm getting married on Christmas"

"Whoa! That soon! Jeez"

I nodded and went and flopped down on his bed.

"No point in wasting time" I said, mimicking Lucius. Draco laughed and sat next to me.

"But you're marrying Snape, surely you're happy about that"

"...Well yeah, you know how happy I am about that-"

"-Yeah! I have the fucking bruise to prove it!"

I laughed; "yeah, sorry about that"

"No you're not"

"You're right I'm not; but still! It's just, there's like, what, four days until Christmas? What exactly am I to be doing for it?"

"Well, it's traditional for you, and in this case Snape, to makes vows to love each other forever and then-"

"-Stop there before your bruise gets a friend!"

"...Yes ma'am"

"I mean like, where? What am I to be wearing? Who's coming, y'know..."

He shrugged; "you should be happy you don't have to deal with all that stuff"

"I guess...But...I dunno..."

"Just be happy! You're going to marry Snape, you don't have to bother with any of the planning, the have the smartest, handsomest and just generally most amazing human being ever for a best friend"

I burst out laughing; "honestly Draco, if your head gets any bigger you won't be able to fit through the door"

He smirked; "you're just saying that, you know what I said was true"

"I dunno, I mean, for one, you have the IQ of a badger, your butt-ugly...But you are pretty awesome"

"Gee...Thanks"

"No problemo mi amigo" I said hugging him. He laughed and hugged me back.

"So...What shall we do?"

I shrugged; "there really isn't anything to do is there?"

He shook his head; "not with all the deatheaters and Voldermort here"

"It sucks"

"Like you"

"You wish!"

"No, Snape wishes!"

I glared and hit his leg playfully. He grinned and pushed me.

"You know it's true!"

"No I don't! ...He doesn't seem the type"

"Oh c'mon! He's a man! Of course he's the type"

I rolled my eyes; "you're disgusting! Seriously! This is why I've never liked to date boys!"

"Yeah, you like your men eh?"

"You are so close to being pushed out of your window!"

"No I'm not"

"Yes, you are!"

"Oh yeah? Bring it!"

I shook my head and decided to go down to the library. I picked a random book up and curled up in one of the large armchairs and began reading. I was left alone for about an hour until Snape joined me. He smiled meekly and sat opposite.

"How're we?"

I shrugged; "I'm all right"

"Just all right?"

"Yeah...Five days is a bit soon...And Draco's so immature I almost punched him"

He chuckled and relaxed in the chair; "I'll admit, it is a bit soon; but I don't mind really"

I nodded; "yeah, at least I get to marry you"

He smiled and motioned for me to go over to him. I set my book down and went and stood in front of him. He took my hands and pulled me down onto his lap. I smiled and snuggled up to him. We sat in a comfortable silence for a while until we heard someone else come into the library. I looked round over the top of the chair; my mother was walking towards us. She looked at us oddly.

"You two have only just had the engagement announced, just how familiar are you?"

Severus and I looked at each other nervously.

"Uh...Promise you won't tell dad?"

She sighed and sat opposite us; "What is it?"

"Well...Uh...I don't really know how to explain this...Basically...We want to see each other, but we can't...So he came up with this idea, and went to Lucius who went to Voldermort who then pretended HE came up with the idea"

She looked at us sceptically; "so this whole marriage is a hoax?"

"No! No, we want to be together! We do love each other, it's just, Dumbledore won't let us"

"And what business is it of his?"

"I'm sure Lenore wants to finish school, and I'd much like to keep my job" Snape replied. She nodded.

"Fair enough I guess. Well, I'm all right with it I supposed if you two do love each other"

Snape nodded; "we do"

I smiled and snuggled up to him. She smiled too.

"Well, good luck with the marriage. You'd better keep her happy Severus, I mean it"

He nodded. She patted my shoulder before leaving. I looked at Snape. He smiled meekly and kissed me softly.

"Well, all seems to be going to plan"

I nodded and snuggled up to him. He held me tighter and kissed the top of my head. We sat together until it was dinner time. I sat in silence, just eating whilst everyone around me made light-hearted conversation. When we were all excused Draco grabbed my arm and pulled me out to the gardens.

"So...What's going on?"

I looked at him sceptically; "what do you mean?"

"Y'know, with you and Snape?"

"...We're getting married? I didn't know that was news to you"

He rolled his eyes; "so nothing new?"

I shrugged; "not really, though my mum found out why we're really getting married"

"Cool, how did she take it?"

"Like the amazing mother she is"

He nodded; "fair enough..."

We wandered around the gardens, unable to think of something to talk about.

"Ooh, I was talking to mother earlier, she said tomorrow you 're being taken dress shopping"

I nodded; "nice"

"Should be"

"Yeah...So..."

It went silent again. I sighed and looked around at everything.

"What's up?"

I shrugged; "I'm just bored. We've run out of things to do and say! I need to prepare for my wedding! I'm just kinda stressed out!"

He smirked and draped his arm over my shoulders.

"There there, it'll all be over soon, and you'll be Mrs. Snape and living a wonderful life with your dream guy"

I smirked; "that is, very very true"

He laughed; "...I still think you have some fucking weird dreams if HE'S the guy you want!"

"So? He's nicer than you think, and, I dunno, I can describe what I like about him but you'll think I'm more insane than you already do"

He grinned; "there's nothing you could say that would make me think any less of you"

"I'd smile if that was meant as a compliment"

"It was a compliment!"

"No it wasn't! You meant you think so little of me it couldn't possibly get any worse!"

He shrugged; "maybe that's loosely based on what I was meaning, but-"

"-Save it Blondie!"

He sighed and pushed me playfully. I pushed him back.

"You haven't forgotten you're still my slave right?"

"...Oh...Shit..."

I laughed and poked him sharply in the waist; "you're totally screwed"

"...But why?"

"You lost the bet! Duh!"

He rolled his eyes. We finally found something to talk about and messed about in the garden for an hour or so before going back inside. Whilst going upstairs to my room I was intercepted on the landing. I was pulled into a room and pushed up against the wall. Snape was smirking at me. I laughed and pushed him off slightly.

"What was all that about?"

He shrugged and pinned me back against the wall. I smirked too.

"I just thought I'd grab you"

He let go of my arms; I slid them round his neck. He stepped closer, smirking before kissing me deeply. He slid his arms round my waist; pulling me away from the wall as we began shuffling towards his bed. I giggled as I fell down onto it. He stood over me and took my hands.

"You joining me?"

He chuckled and sat next to me. I sat up and slipped my arms round his neck. He kissed my neck and wrapped his arms round me tightly. I smiled and snuggled up to him. We sat occasionally kissing and holding each other for a while. I looked up at him and kissed his cheek.

"...Do you love me?"

He smirked and kissed my forehead; "I do, very much"

I grinned and kissed him softly; "I love you too"

He smiled and hugged me tightly. I crawled out of his arms and lay down on his bed; he smirked and lay next to me, wrapping his arms round me tightly. I smiled and snuggled up to him. We lay together in a content silence until there was a knock on the door; Lucius walked in. He smirked at us.

"Getting acquainted are we?"

I sighed and sat up.

"Sorry Lenore, but I really need to speak to him"

I nodded and went to leave when Snape pulled me into a soft kiss. I smiled and kissed him back before wandering off to find Draco.


	19. Chapter 19

It was finally Christmas Day. Most of the women burst into my room; my mother, Narcissa, Bellatrix... They hauled me out of bed and pushed me into the bathroom.

"Come on darling! Get ready! It's your wedding today!"

I sighed and looked around the bathroom; how could I forget? I was reminded every moment of every day leading up to it, either by everyone in the mansion or my wedding dress hung up in my room. It was beautiful, black and grey. I jumped into the shower and got clean. Once I was done I pulled my nightgown on and joined all the women in my room again.

"Come here dear; we need to do your hair and make-up" Narcissa said forcing me down in the chair in front of my dresser. They all began fussing over me. I sighed and just looked at my reflection in the mirror.

"Merry Christmas" I mumbled silently to myself. My head was jerked all over the place as they pulled my hair. Once my head was done Bellatrix grabbed my dress and thrust it at me.

"Go put this on"

I nodded and went to the bathroom to get changed. It was a corset dress so I needed someone to lace it up at the back. Bellatrix did it, pulling it as tight as possible, my waist lost around 5 inches. I thought that would be it for a while and I'd get to relax, but more was still to come. They put on all of my jewellery, shoes, small things like gloves. I was eventually left to my own devices, everyone filed out of my room, leaving me in a slightly startled state. I sat on the edge of my bed and looked around. It was still quite early, I didn't know what time the ceremony was, or where it was. Just then there was a meek knock on the door and Draco came in. He smiled at me.

"You look nice"

I shrugged; "you're so lucky you're not getting married...It's actually quite painful"

"Well...Even though we're supposed to be exchanging gifts later AFTER the wedding, I thought I'd come give you yours now"

He held out a small box. I smiled and took it. Inside was a locket, with pictures of me and him inside. I grinned and hugged him tightly.

"It's fantastic! Thank you Draco!"

He smiled; "glad you like it"

"...Do you know what time the wedding is?"

He shrugged; "no, sorry"

I sighed; "the anticipation is killing me!"

"Well...Don't you think this is the best Christmas ever?"

I smiled; "maybe..."

"Maybe? C'mon! You're marrying the guy you love"

I nodded; "yeah...I can't show too much excitement, I can't ruin the dress"

He laughed; "poor you"

Just then Lucius shouted him. He sighed and smiled meekly at me.

"I'll probably see you at the wedding"

I nodded; he hugged me quickly before running off downstairs. I sat back down on my bed and looked at the locket Draco had given me. Time went by so slowly; then again it always does when you watch the clock. Eventually someone knocked on my door and came in. It was my dad, he beamed when he saw me.

"You look stunning sweetheart" he said gathering me in his arms. I smiled as he kissed the top of my head. "Anyway, we should get you married!"

"I think so too"

He picked up my coat and helped me into it.

"Come on then"

He slid his arm round my shoulder and escorted me downstairs and outside to the cars. The windows were tinted so I couldn't see where it was we were going. My dad looked extremely nervous.

"What's wrong dad? I thought I should be the nervous one"

He smiled meekly; "I just don't know if I've done the right thing..."

"I'll be fine! Seriously! I probably know Snape better than you do, he'll be good to me"

He took my hands and squeezed them softly.

"Well...As long as you're sure"

"I'm quite sure...Not that I have much choice either"

It went silent. I stared at my reflection in the window. Finally the car stopped. My dad got out of his side, someone opened the door for me and helped me out. My dad rushed round and took my arm.

"Come on dear...It's time"

I smiled and walked happily up to the church. For something planned so promptly, they'd done a good job. The walk up the aisle was longer than expected, at the front Severus was smirking looking very handsome in his casual suit. Everyone else was dressed in their very best - except Voldermort. When I got to the alter my dad kissed my cheek and held out my hand for Severus to take it. He slid his arm round my waist and pulled me closer. I smiled and held onto him. All through the ceremony I didn't listen to the unimportant things, instead I just soaked in the situation. I was marrying Severus Snape! I looked up at him and smiled sweetly; the vicar-person was also smiling at us.

"I do"

Severus grinned and squeezed me softly.

"You may now kiss the bride"

He slid his arms further round my waist, pulling me closer. I kissed him deeply, making sure to cut it shorter than it would have been if we weren't surrounded by everyone we knew. Everyone began applauding. I buried my face into his chest, looking out over the crowd; Draco was shaking his head and pulling a face of disgust. I laughed to myself and looked up at Severus. He smiled and pushed me away slightly.

"Come on" he said quietly. I nodded and took his arm, he hurried down the aisle to the car. Everyone followed us. My mum rushed over to us, hugging me tightly.

"How are we feeling?"

I smiled; "fantastic"

"Look after her Severus, she's my baby"

He smiled and nodded; "I will"

I looked up and kissed his cheek. He squeezed me softly. Everyone was crowding us, a photographer was snapping pictures, people were congratulating us. Just then Lucius stood in front of us, holding his arms out.

"Come on now everyone, stop crowding them, you can do that when we get back to the Mansion!"

Severus gave me another squeeze before letting go of me. A random guy jumped in between us and opened the car door. Snape took my hand and helped me into the back seat before going round the other side to get in himself. I smiled and snuggled up to him. He held me extremely close and kissed the top of my head. I sighed happily and looked up at him.

"I love you"

He kissed ne softly; "I love you too"

I snuggled up to him, sliding my arms round his waist.

"When I get home I can get out of this lung-capacity-restricting thing"

He laughed and stroked my cheek; "even though everyone who sees you are themselves totally breathless?"

I giggled at his cheesiness and looked up; "you're so sweet, it's actually scaring me"

He laughed again and kissed my forehead; "apologies, I'll stop"

"...You don't have to"

He smirked and gave me a soft squeeze.

"Actually...Could you loosen this corset? It's really hurting"

"Of course"

He turned me so I had my back to him and fiddled about for a few seconds before I could feel my lungs fill with air.

"There you go"

I snuggled up to him again, holding him tightly; "thank you"

When we got back to the Malfoy Mansion, some more pictures were taken before we could all go get changed. The majority of them stayed as they were, only the ones in expensive dresses got changed into more casual ones. I knew the attire for the day was supposed to be smart, so I threw on another dress and took off some of the jewellery, replacing the necklace with the locket Draco had given me earlier. I glanced down at my left hand and smiled at the ring that fit snugly on my finger. I changed my shoes and joined everyone downstairs. The living room was off limits - for now, so everyone was milling about in the library, hallway or garden. Severus was stood at the bottom of the stairs talking to my mum and Lucius. He smiled when he saw me and slid his arm round my waist.

"So...How are we?" Lucius asked. I smiled and snuggled up to Snape.

"I'm great"

They both smiled.

"It's lovely to see you two happy"

"Yeah...When's dinner?"

They all laughed.

"Bless you! It'll be in an hour"

I nodded and looked up at Severus; "shall we go for a wander?"

He smiled and nodded; "sure"

I took his arm and pulled him off outside. We wandered around the garden in a comfortable silence, holding each other close. When we got to the bench at the bottom of the garden I sat down and pulled him down next to me. He wrapped an arm round me and pulled me close.

"So...Will we ever get to be alone?"

He chuckled and nodded; "eventually"

"Eventually? That's not good enough!"

"Well...We'll be back at Hogwarts sooner than you think"

"I guess so..."

He kissed my temple and stroked my shoulder with his thumb.

"At least I get to sleep in your bed now"

He smirked and nodded; "I know. I hope you don't have any bad sleeping habits"

"I don't snore if that's what you mean! I sleep like an angel"

He chuckled and kissed my cheek; "good"

"...Though I do sleep in the foetal position...Though I'm sure sleeping next to you will change that"

"I think I could survive you being curled up in a ball"

"...Do YOU have any habits?"

"Certainly not"

"You'd better not"

He smirked and kissed my temple again.

"Just because you're now my wife doesn't mean you can speak to me with a tone!"

I laughed; "I think you'll find, as your wife, I can speak to you how I want!"

He laughed too and squeezed me tightly; "oh really?"

I smirked and kissed his cheek; "yes"

"Well...I'll have to show you what's what"

"I'm sure you will"

He laughed again and pulled me onto his knee.

"I hope there's no innuendo behind that"

"No, and if you found one then you're disgusting!"

He shook his head; "immature"

"I'm not!"

He looked at me sceptically; I grinned and kissed him softly. He smiled and rest his forehead against mine.


	20. Chapter 20

After dinner everyone gathered in the living room to exchange gifts. I sat on the sofa, snuggled up to Severus. As a sort of custom, the youngest children went first, shredding the paper off their piles of presents. I rest my head on Snapes shoulder and nuzzled my face into it. He smiled down at me and squeezed my hand softly. It didn't take long for the kids to get lost under a sea of wrapping paper. Occasionally one would pop up holding a gift, very wowed by it. They finally all left the room to play with their toys in the dining room. Lucius - who was closest to the Christmas began handing out the presents. I got a lot of jewellery. Once all the gifts were opened, most of us drifted out of the room. Severus and I sat in my room; I sat cross-legged in the middle of my bed, Severus sat on the edge. Next to me was all the jewellery I'd gotten. Just then Severus leant over and held the locket Draco had given me.

"What's this?"

I smiled and took it off him.

"Draco gave it me this morning, it's me and him"

I opened it to show him the pictures. He smirked.

"Cute"

I laughed and hit his leg lightly. "Don't be mean, I like it"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug; "ok"

I smiled and snuggled up to him.

"So where will be sleeping tonight? My room or your room?"

He chuckled and kissed my cheek; "it's up to you"

"...I like my bed"

"Your bed it is"

I slid my arms round his waist, pulling him closer. He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my arms softly.

"What shall we do? It's not even late?"

He shrugged and squeezed me softly; "we can do anything you like"

"Stop leaving everything to me! Make a decision man!"

He chuckled and let go of me; "I don't know...I'm not the sort of person who does things"

I rolled my eyes and got up. I wandered round my room looking for something to do, Severus watched me intently. I sat on the windowsill watching it snow outside. I could hear Snape moving about around my room. I gazed out of the window until he suddenly put his hands over my eyes. I laughed and pulled his hands off.

"What?"

He leant over my shoulder and kissed my neck; "nothing"

I reached my arms up around his neck and pulled him closer. He slid his arms round my waist. I shuffled up so he could sit behind me. We sat in a warm embrace watching it snow. I rest my head back on his shoulder; he smiled down at me and kissed my nose.

"Today's been a good day"

He nodded and gave me a soft squeeze; "of course it was"

I smiled; "...I can't wait to spend the rest of our life together"

He chuckled and kissed my forehead; "me neither"

I shuffled round slightly to face him. I rest my forehead against his and stared into his eyes.

"I love you"

He smiled and pecked me softly on the lips; "I love you too"

I pulled him into a tight hug. Just then there was a knock on the door and Draco came in.

"...Sorry if I'm interrupting"

"No, come in, what can we do for you?"

He grinned and sat on the edge of my bed; "just wanted to hang out really"

I nodded and turned my back to Severus; he wrapped his arms tightly round my waist.

"So...what are we up to?"

I shrugged; "just being newly weds...Bored of your toys?"

He laughed; "yeah...I don't really want to go ride my broom in this weather, I'll freeze"

"True..."

"So...You've been married a whole...4 hours, no regrets?"

I laughed and shook my head; "certainly not! I couldn't be happier!"

"Oh I'm sure you could"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah...You'd be happier if I left the room!"

"...I stand corrected"

Snape chuckled and kissed my neck. Draco shook his head playfully.

"I thought you loved me"

I shrugged; "meh"

He pretended to be offended; "how dare you!"

"I'm sorry...But there's only one guy for me"

Snape chuckled again whilst Draco frowned.

"Who's going to love me then?"

I grinned; "Tempest"

He gagged and glared at me; "are you trying to make me sick?"

"Don't lie Draco, I know you secretly like her"

"Yeah...Right...That's why I screamed in her face?"

I shrugged; "yeah?"

He shook his head and looked around. I smiled to myself and looked up at Severus. He smirked and kissed my cheek softly. Draco sighed loudly. I looked over at him.

"Something wrong?"

He shrugged; "nah...I'll leave you two to it..."

I nodded. He got up and left. I turned round to face Severus us and smiled meekly at him. He cupped my cheek in his hand stroked it with his thumb before pulling me into a soft kiss. I smiled and rest my forehead against his.

"Well...That killed five minutes"

He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. I sat in his arms for a while, loosing all track of time. He suddenly pushed me away and stood up. I looked up at him questionningly. He smirked and gathered me up in his arms, picking me up and carrying me to the bed. I smiled and rest my head on his shoulder. We snuggled up on the bed, just enjoying each others company.

I woke up, extremely tired and with a pair of arms loosely round my waist but locked solid. I wriggled up of Severus' grip and sat up, rubbing my head. He was sound asleep next to me and looked absolutely adorable. I smiled and slipped some of his hair behind his ear. He stirred and shifted about, moving his arms from round my legs where they'd ended up when I sat up. I slid off the bed, careful not to wake him and went over to the windowsill. It was already dark outside, but the lights in the garden reflecting off the snow illuminated the ground. I went over to one of my bookshelves and pulled down a book before settling into the windowsill to read; the glare from the lights on the snow made it easy to see the words on the page. I looked over at Severus every time he stirred. I began getting lost in my book. Something moved in the peripheral. Severus was sat up, quite contently watching me read. I smiled and rest my book down on my lap.

"Have a nice sleep?"

He nodded and got off the bed, coming over to me. He rest a hand on my shoulder and looked at what I was reading.

"How long had I been asleep?"

I shrugged; "just an hour or so longer than me"

I put my book down and shuffled about so he could sit down next to me. He slid his arms round me tightly and pulled me into him. I smiled and snuggled up to him. The large grandfather clock downstairs in the hallway began ringing; it was nine o'clock. I looked up and kissed just below his cheek. He forced a smile and returned the kiss on my forehead before pulling my head into the crook of his neck. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. We sat like that for a while until I pulled away and looked up at him. He looked back at me and stroked my hair. I smiled quickly before kissing him deeply, catching him somewhat unprepared. He slowly slid his arms tighter round my waist. We made out until I pulled out of his grip and stood up. He smirked as I stood in front of him and grabbed his hands. He stood up too and slid his arms back round my waist, pulling me into another kiss. I wrapped my arms loosely round his neck, fingering the tips of his hair as he gently but firmly pushed me in the direction of my bed. I pulled away and smirked.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"I don't know, is it?"

I sighed and glared at him; "will you stop speaking in the interrogative?"

He laughed and pushed me down onto the bed; "if you wish"

I rolled my eyes and pulled him down next to me; "now answer my question"

He shook his head playfully; "I would if I had an answer"

"...You're useless! You know that?"

He smirked and pulled me onto his knee; "am I now?"

I nodded before he pulled me into another kiss. I pushed him down on the bed, still sat on top of him.

The next morning I woke up strangely early. Severus was lay next to me, his arm draped over my waist. I smiled to myself and rolled over to face him, burying my face in his neck. He stirred and tensed his grip around me. I closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep, but I was too awake; despite it still being dark outside. I sighed and pulled out of his surprisingly strong grip and leant over the side of the bed to get my nightgown. I went to go have a shower, laughing to myself at the mess of clothes around the bed. When I got out of the shower he was still asleep. I smiled and got dry and dressed before sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

It was the first day back at Hogwarts and we got straight to lessons; luckily I had Potions with my best friend and new husband.

"If you could have had a honeymoon, where would it be?" Draco asked. I shrugged.

"Somewhere out of the way and not obvious...Maybe; Russia"

"Ooh, romantic"

I laughed and hit him playfully; "I like Russia!"

"Well-"

"-Mr Malfoy! Ms Page, Russia has nothing to do with todays work!" Snape interrupted. I smirked at him.

"Sorry sir"

He smirked back and went on his rounds of the room.

"Jeez, anyone would think you're screwing the teacher" Draco said. I laughed and carried on working. After a while of working Draco and I got distracted again and began chatting.

"Don't make me have to tell you twice!" Snape said.

"It was all Lenore sir!" Draco said. I glared at him, Snape smirked.

"Oh really? Ms Page, are you busy tonight?"

"...No, why?"

"Now you have detention; eight o'clock"

"Yes sir"

I smirked and got back to work.

After lesson Draco and I wandered round Hogwarts chatting. Suddenly Draco dived behind me.

"It's Tempest!"

I laughed; before she saw Draco he went and his behind a pillar. Tempest came over.

"Hello Lenore, did you have a good Christmas?"

"Yes thank you! It was fantastic! You?"

"Yes, mine was very nice... You haven't seen Draco have you?"

"Not since lesson, why?"

"He said he wanted to speak to me..."

"Oh...If I see him I'll let him know"

"Thank you"

"See you later"

She wandered off; I looked at where Draco was hiding.

"Speak about what huh?"

He came over; "I just wanted to, apologise"

"...Right..."

"Come on!"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me down the corridor. I laughed and pushed him playfully.

That afternoon I had my afternoon session with Snape and his first years. He had them all copying notes out of text books in silence, Snape and I sat flirting. I rest my hand on his leg and stroked it with my thumb. He smirked and wrote something down.

"Stop it; I have a class of eleven year olds here"

I laughed to myself and picked up a quill; "sorry hot-stuff, I can't help myself"

He smirked; "save it, we have detention later"

"I thought detention was supposed to be a punishment"

"Like I actually gave you a detention, it's just an excuse to spend an uninterrupted hour with you"

"How sweet"

"You know I am"

"I know many things about you"

"Such as?"

"Now that would be telling"

He smirked and screwed up the piece of paper. I twirled my hair round my finger whilst gazing at him; he occasionally smirked back at me. The lesson seemed to drag on. To entertain myself I occasionally ran my hand up Snapes leg and wrote random love notes to him. Finally the lesson ended; all the first years ran out. Snape towered over me and rest a hand on my shoulder.

"Be here at eight o'clock"

I smirked and stood up; yes, sir"

He smirked too. I stood on my tip-toes and kissed him softly. He smiled and pushed some hair behind my ear.

"I'll see you later"

I nodded and left, going in search of Draco. After a while of chasing through the castle for him, I found him by the lake talking to Tempest. I grinned and tried to get closer, being very discrete. I climbed a tree a listened in to their conversation.

"How am I supposed to believe you Draco?"

"Because, I could think of better ways to mess you about...And I don't really feel to great about being here, kind of, asking you back"

"...I'm not sure"

"Please! If I can get Lenore to get some truth serum, would you believe me?"

"...Probably"

"Ok, uh, I'll keep you posted"

She nodded and left; Draco stood awkwardly, looking around to check no one had seen him. He was just about to go back up to the castle when I jumped out of the tree in front of him, grinning. He glared when he saw me.

"You heard all that didn't you"

I shrugged casually; "most of it...Told you you liked her!"

He started walking off; "it's none of your business!"

"Uh, yes it is! I can help y'know"

"No you can't, you'll just make it worse!"

"Aww Draco! Why would I do that?"

"Because you're not a love doctor! You and Snape getting together was just a fluke!"

"Yeah, sure it was! Just accept my help Draco!"

"No!"

He stormed off ahead. I rolled my eyes at his teenage angst and strolled back up to the castle. When I got to the courtyard Snape was shouting at a first year. Whilst the kid was too blinded by tears, he motioned for me to wait for him on the corridor. I meandered over and leant on the wall. After he'd emotionally scarred the first year he came over and carried on walking, meaning for me to walk with him.

"Bizarre how I keep bumping into you sir"

He smirked; "it is, what do you want?"

I laughed; "nothing, just wandering on my own, Draco's in a mood"

"About?"

"Teenage boy things. He's in love, but it's forbidden love, so naturally, he has to sulk"

"It's not easy being a teenage boy"

"Like you'd know!"

He smirked; "I'm sure I have a better idea than you"

"Whatever, and stop smiling, you'll put some students in the hospital wing!"

"Ok"

"Anyway, I might go find myself some friends...You might want to as well"

"I'm fine"

"You're lonely"

"I'm fine!"

"...Billy"

He smirked and walked off, I went to go find Celeste. She was hanging out with Neville, Seamus and Dean. I sat down like I hung out with them all the time.

"S'up Lenore? Where's Malfoy?" Celeste asked.

"In a sulk, what's going on with you guys?"

"Just hanging out"

"You still hang out with that blonde, sorry excuse for a wizard?" Seamus asked.

"Look, just because you guys have a mutual loathing for each other doesn't mean you have to involve me! He's my friend, leave it at that!"

They all shared disgusted looks. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll leave you guys to be arseholes then..." I said getting up.

"No don't go! We won't mention Malfoy!" Celeste protested. I shook my head.

"Nah...And don't let your heads get stuck to far up your own backsides, you'll find it hard to walk!"

I walked off down to the dungeons. I couldn't be bothered knocking, and just walked straight into Snapes office. He looked at me confoundedly as I grabbed a chair and slumped down next to him.

"...Can I help you"

"I hate people"

"Yes, they are wretched. What have they done?"

"Just been themselves. I'm a Gryffindor and I'm more superior than you just because I'm friends with our saviour Potter! Woo-wee"

He smirked; "ignore them. Gryffindors are self-righteous gits"

"Indeed, us Slytherins should stick together"

He laughed; "you-"

"-I know I'm in Ravenclaw...But, I'm just an anomaly! You're in Slytherin, my best friend is, my parents were, my adoptive parents are, I'm a Slytherin at heart...I'm just too smart and not 'cunning' enough"

"Of course"

"Don't humour me"

He smiled and took my hand; "cheer up"

"...Yes sir"

"Come here"

I smiled meekly as he pulled me onto his knee. I snuggled up to him, he wrapped his arms round me and kissed the top of my head.

"Can I sleep in your bed?"

"...Not tonight"

"Fine"

He kissed the top of my head; "Friday night, I promise"

"...I can do Friday"

"Good"

I looked up and kissed him softly; "...I'll get off your knee before someone comes in and busts us"

"Good idea"

I kissed his cheek and sat back in my chair.

"I need something to do until our detention"

He smirked; "I can give you some homework"

"...I'll be fine"

"Of course...Fancy helping me mark then?"

"...Sure"

He grabbed a pile of papers and put them in front of me.

"But if I'm doing this now, what will I do for my detention?"

He smirked deviously; "I'll think of something for you to do"

"I'm sure you will"

"But now, work"

"Yes sir!"

"Stop calling me sir"

"You like it"

He chuckled; "really?"

"Don't try and deny it!"

"Ok, I won't"

I grinned to myself and got marking.


	22. Chapter 22

During dinner I sat by myself at the end of the Ravenclaw table. Celeste, Jade and Ruby were sat at the Hogwarts table, and Draco was sat with a huge scowl on his face at the Slytherin table. I chased a potato round my plate, passing time. Suddenly someone sat opposite me; it was Tempest. She smiled.

"Hello Lenore. Why are you on your own?"

I shurgged; "suddenly my friends are too good too good to hang out with me"

"Surely not! What about Draco?"

"Boy problems, time of the month, y'know"

She giggled; "well, Ill keep you company"

I managed a smile; "thank you"

"So what are you doing after dinner?" she asked; reaching for the ice-cream.

"I've got detention with Snape"

"Ahh, have fun"

"Uhm...I will"

I dropped my fork and pushed my nearly empty plate away from me; before grabbing a bowl and helping myself to some ice-cream.

"So, uh, what's going on with Draco?"

She shrugged; "I'm not sure. Please don't repeat any of this to Draco... Over Christmas he sent me letters saying he was sorry, and I didn't really believe him. Then he explained what happened with you and Snape, and told me we were similar somehow, and then today was begging for another chance"

I looked at her, astounded; "really? But, Draco's so proud! He actually begged?"

"Near enough. I mean, he didn't get on his hands and knees, but, I lost count of how many times he said please..."

"This is so out of character, did you poison him?"

"I know what you mean. I don't get it, I'm half-blood, he knows that!"

"...You've done something to him. Well, not you, but like, your presence or something"

She laughed; "me? You're kidding right?"

"Nah, if what you say is true, Draco's...In love with you"

Her eyes widened; "well, that's a bombshell I wasn't prepared for"

"Don't tell Draco I meddled, but, go out with him. He really is a lovely person! He can be really cruel to people he doesn't like, but, maybe you can change that about him!"

She seemed to ponder it for a while.

"Oh, and don't suddenly go out with him, he'll know I've meddled, play it out"

She laughed; "ok... When's your detention?"

"Eight"

"It's ten to"

"Shit, thanks Tempest, I needed a talk"

She smiled and waved me off. I jogged down to the dungeons and through to Snapes office. He looked up at me and smirked.

"Someone's late"

I looked at the clock; "one minute!"

"I don't tolerate tardiness on any level!"

I rolled my eyes and sat next to him.

"So what're we doing?"

"I have a tonne of work to do, so, you just entertain yourself"

"Where did it come from?"

"...Idiotic students perhaps?"

I sighed; "so seriously, what can I do?"

"Honestly, nothing"

"Wow, an hour of more boredom!"

"I'm sorry, but if you wanted a fun boyfriend, I wasn't the best choice you could have made"

I sighed loudly, slid down my chair and folded my arms across my chest, scowling. Severus smirked and carried on with what he was doing. I sat in a sulk for a few minutes before getting up and pacing around his office. I looked at the door that led to his bedroom and looked back at him.

"I'm going to go read in your room"

He nodded, not even looking up. I went through to his room. The fire was burning, providing the only light in the room. I looked through his books before picking one out and sitting with it by the fire. I hadn't read very far when my eyelids began to feel heavy.

I woke up the next morning in my dorm bed, quite confused. I sighed and got ready for the days happenings. On the way to the Great Hall I saw Celeste, Neville and Seamus. They all glared at me as I walked past; I gave them an equally disgusted look. I slumped down at the Ravenclaw table and looked exasperatedly at all the food in front of me. Just then Draco slid up next to me.

"What's up?"

I shrugged and picked up a red and green apple, analysing them both.

"Sorry about yesterday, just, got a lot, well, going on"

"It's ok Draco, no need to apologise"

"Oh, uhm, ok then"

I sighed; "red or green apple?"

"Green, obviously"

I nodded and put the green apple back, taking a bite out of the red one.

"So really, what's up?"

"Everything's different, I don't like it"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Suddenly the girls are too high and mighty to even look at me. Suddenly they think they're Gryffindors and that makes them better than me. You're all angtsy, and Snape's suddenly really busy and can't take a break to accommodate me"

"Well, as soon as people associate themselves with Gryffindors they instantly become dicks. I'm NOT angsty, and Snape's a teacher! He's going to busy, he can't just drop everything for you"

"He used to be able to"

He shrugged and draped an arm over my shoulders.

"Come on, let's take a walk before classes"

I nodded and let him lead me out of the castle. We sat on a grassy verge in silence watching people walk around. Draco kept on looking at me intently, as if doing that would strike up conversation. It eventually did.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

He laughed; "sorry, it's just still sinking in"

"...What is?"

"Who you're married to!"

"Oh, go do one!"

He laughed again and punched my shoulder playfully; "I'm happy for you, you know I am, but you have to be able to acknowledge how bizarre this is!"

"Well, yeah, but so what?"

"Five months ago, we were just average kids having a laugh, now you're married! To a teacher! And not just any teacher, Snape!"

"I s'pose, ish. But really, so what? You'd be fine with it if it was someone else, it's just that it's him..."

"Well...YEAH! Don't get me wrong, I'm totally made up for you, but...Yeah..."

We got caught up in our conversation and didn't notice the grounds empty and the school quieten. We were still talking halfway through first lesson, which was when a member of staff came to find us. Luckily for us, it was Severus.

"WHAT, are you two doing out of lessons?"

We looked around and cringed.

"Oops, sorry sir, we got really caught up" Draco said. He looked at us sceptically.

"Don't think that because of our...Status, you can not go to lesson"

I looked at him oddly; "why would I do that? I forgot to go to lesson! It's got nothing to do with you"

"Uh-huh?"

"Seriously Severus! You're so full of yourself! Not everything I do is about you. Draco and I came to chat before lessons, got caught up in our conversation, and forgot about lessons! Plausible no?"

"...No. And don't speak to me like that"

"Why? It's just us three, you're not my superior here"

"Don't push me"

"Look, we'll go to lessons! You can stop bitching at us!"

I grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him off with me, leaving Snape stood there quite dazed. Draco looked at me, quite astounded at what had just happened.

"I could seriously punch that man sometimes"

Draco sniggered; "trouble in paradise?"

I punched his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I can't punch him. I can however, punch you"

He sighed and rubbed his arm. We finally got into Herbology; Professor Sprout glared at us.

"Where have you two been?"

"Uh, hospital wing" Draco lied.

"Where's your note?"

"Uh, she didn't give us one"

"Right, where have you been?"

"Snape needed us to do something for him"

"Stop lying Draco. We were sat outside and forgot we had lessons, ok?" I snapped before taking my seat.

"Detention for the both of you. Eight pm."

"Fine"

I dumped my bag on the table and slumped down on it, sulking and watching everyone get back to their practical. Draco sat next to me and nudged me.

"What's wrong? You've suddenly gotten really temperamental"

I shrugged; "must be that I'm surrounded my dicks"

"But you were fine till Snape turned up"

"He knows how to get to me"

"Ok...I'll just leave it"

"Good plan"

He slipped over to Tempest and began helping her discretely. Seeing them mess about like a young couple in love made me smile, and there was no way I could hide it other than to bury my face in my bag. They kept on getting dirt on each other, at one point she wiped a bit on his face, and he laughed! So much for Tempest playing it cool. But their antics got me thinking about how boring Severus and I were now. Before we were married it was all fun, secret meetings and love letters. Now, as opposed to being a young newly-wed couple which we were supposed to be it felt like we were an old married couple who were starting to hate everything the other does. If we weren't at school our relationship would be brilliant, but this place is starting to ruin us, and quite quickly! We've not even been back for two whole days. 


	23. Chapter 23

A couple of days later, I wasn't really on speaking terms with anyone. Draco and Tempest were really the only ones I'd really talk to, but they were too loved up to pay me attention. I didn't want to be around Celeste and the twins, Severus was getting on my nerves, I was basically alone. I spent most of my time in the library to do a bit of revision for the end of year exams. The only person I saw regularly was Hermione Granger, and we weren't particularly friendly with each other. I was musing over a Potions book when there was a loud thud in front of me. Hermione had dropped a large copy of 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' on the table in front of me and sat herself down.

"Revising?"

I looked at her sceptically; "uh, yeah?"

"I always think it's good to get a head start. What are you reading?"

I continued my sceptical look as I held up the book so she could read the cover.

"I can't see why you'd need to revise Potions, I hear you're very good at it. I used to be, but for some reason this year everything seems to go wrong, how are you with Herbology?"

I shrugged; "um, I'm ok..."

"We should swap notes, maximise our potential!"

"Um...Ok?"

"Sorry, I'm being quite forward aren't I. I know we've not previously seen eye to eye, but I really have no problem with you. And I do think we'll both get more out of our revision if we work together"

"Oh, ok..."

She turned her book round and pushed it in front of the chair on my left before scurrying round the desk and sitting next to me. We got a surprising amount of work done in our spare three hours. She helped me understand things in Herbology I wasn't before, I showed her some of the mistakes in the book, and we both did our Ancient Runes homework.

"When's your next free period?" Hermione asked, packing her books away.

"Um, Thursday morning"

Hermione stopped packing; "oh, I have the afternoon...How about Saturday?"

"What time?"

"Morning, no ones really up in the morning"

"Yeah, sure"

She smiled and finished packing her bag, as did I. We both walked as far as the middle of our common rooms before going to our respective houses. On the way I bumped into Celeste, Neville, Dean and Seamus. They all glared and began whispering as they passed me. I rolled my eyes and carried on. The common room was strangely empty. I sat by the fire and did a bit more revision. I was alone for quite a while until I heard someone come in. I didn't feel the need to see who it was and kept my eyes fixed on the words in my book.

"Avoiding me?"

I looked up, Snape was stood in front of me, his arms folded. I looked back down at my book.

"Should you be here?"

"I'm allowed wherever I want, now tell me why you're avoiding me"

"...Because you're being an arse. Everyone's being an arse!"

"Everyone being?"

"You! Celeste, Jade, Ruby, Draco to some extent..."

"Have you not noticed that you're a common factor?"

"So it's my fault everyone's acting like dicks?"

He sighed and sat in the chair in front of me; "no, but can you not just be overracting?"

I shrugged; "I could be, but you're now too busy to see me and treat me like a child when you do, the girls all suddenly think they're Gryffindors and as such can treat me like crap, Draco's in love and has no time for me, I'm alone!"

Severus looked around; "we should move this somewhere else"

"I'm busy"

"Please?"

I sighed loudly and packed my things away. I followed him all the way down to his office, telling myself to not believe whatever 'line' he comes up with, and there's no promise in the world he could keep. He led me through to his room and conjured up the fire. I went and curled up in the armchair and waited to see what he had to say. He looked at me for a few moments before opening his mouth.

"Where's your ring?"

I hoisted up the silver chain which was round my neck, showing off my wedding ring dangling on it, usually hidden by my clothes; "where's yours?"

As soon as he'd asked me I had to check he was wearing his, which he wasn't. He went over to his dresser and picked up a small box.

"It's in here, staying safe"

I snorted and looked at the fire. He sighed and knelt in front of me.

"You've forgotten"

"Forgotten what?"

He tried to catch my eye, but I refused to look in his direction.

"The most important thing of all"

"And that is?"

He cupped my face and made me look at him; "that I love you"

I tried my very hardest to keep a straight face despite the fact I so desperately wanted to smile.

"Even though I don't show it, or tell you enough, I do"

I sighed and looked at the floor; he accepted that as a sign of defeat and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms round his neck and clung onto him like it was the last time I'd ever see him. I could feel my eyes burn, a sensation which felt like my skull was shrinking and compressing my brain, and my throat contract so only the smallest amount of air would get through to my lungs. Before I could tell myself to be a big girl and suck it up, a tear built up in the corner of my right eye before trickling down my cheek. I sniffed to keep the rapidly liquefying mucus inside my nose. Severus pushed me away slightly and smiled sympathetically when he saw the state he'd gotten me into.

"Come here you"

He pulled my head to his chest and stroked my hair and back rhythmically. Instead of trying to calm me down he just let me cry into his chest. After ten or so minutes, my eyes were feeling drier than they'd ever felt. I pulled away so I could rub them and wipe my face with my sleeve. After I'd done Severus held my face and smiled.

"You've red puffy eyes, a runny nose, and a bit of a spot forming, and you're still stunning"

I looked at my feet and smiled; "shut up"

He chuckled and pulled me into an even tighter hug; "does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"For now"

He kissed the top of my head and squeezed me affectionately; "I might not be around all the time for your entertainment, but you can come to me if you've got a problem, even if it's with me. I promise I'll watch how I speak to you; I don't mean to treat you like a child, but sometimes, I'm in grumpy teacher mode"

I accidentally let out a giggle. I looked up and smiled.

"I love you"

He kissed me softly and pushed some hair from my face; "I love you too"

The next day I was feeling a little more chipper. I joined Draco at the Slytherin table.

"Morning"

He smiled; "haven't seen you in a while"

"Well, here I am"

"Very good..."

"How are you and Tempest?"

"Um, working things out...I just don't know how I'm going to tell my father..."

"Tell him she's pureblood?"

"But that makes me look bad to her"

I shrugged and helped myself to some toast; "well...Suck it up? You like her, no one should stand in the way"

"Oh ok Juliet"

I looked at him blankly; "excuse me?"

"You know, Romeo and Juliet...I know, it only really works with Romeo"

"Fair enough"

"So...You and you-know-who made up?"

"Yup, he made me cry"

"The bastard!"

I laughed; "nah, I was feeling vulnerable and he was too sweet for me to handle"

"Yeah, sure"

I pulled him into a playful headlock; "you're a git sometimes"

"I know I know...To make it up...Fancy getting one over on those bitches you used to call your friends?"

"Um..."

"C'mon! They're being so snide, they deserve some form of abuse"

I shrugged; "I'm fine for now"

"Fine...Anyway...Off to meet Tempest before lessons...Coming?"

"Will you two be all...Y'know...?"

He laughed; "nah, we'll lay off it just for you"

"Aww, thank you"

He grinned and pulled me up with him. On our way to meet Tempest we bumped into Hermione. She glared at Malfoy.

"Lenore, can I have a word?"

"Uh, yeah"

Draco glared at the two of us as we walked a couple of feet away.

"I was wondering if Ron could join us revising, he's really stuck with some of his work"

"Uh yeah, sure, will he be up?"

She laughed; "I'll get him up...And, you haven't told Draco we're working together have you?"

"Uh, I was getting round to it, or, just, not tell him..."

"Sorry, I've probably made things a little awkward"

"No, it's fine, I can deal with it. Uh, see you later anyway"

"Bye"

I went back over to Draco who was still glaring; "since when were you friend with her?"

"Since, we've started revising together...I thought you were turning a corner with the whole blood status thing"

"Uh, not really...It's only Tempest, and even if I started liking mudbloods, not her!"

I sighed; "fine, whatever, c'mon"

I grabbed his arm and yanked him down the corridor. Tempest was sat outside by the fountain, eating an apple. She smiled when she saw us and got up. Draco skipped a couple of steps in front of me and pulled her into a hug. I smiled at how sweet they looked; matching hair, and the same gooey look on their face. I figured this was how Lucius and Narcissa started out, only Narcissa was more sane.

"Hello Lenore"

"Hey Tempest"

Draco kept a firm grip on Tempest's hand as she spoke to me.

"I do have to thank you for meddling Lenore, Draco completes me"

I smiled; "it's no problem, just, spreading the love"

"I knew you meddled" Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"And look where it's got you, you're all in love"

He shrugged and pulled back some of Tempest's hair to kiss her cheek. I smiled and looked round.

"I might let you two...Snuggle for a bit, I'll go read under that tree"

Draco shook his head as I wandered off. I got a book out and pretended to read as Draco and Tempest pushed and pulled each other about, kissing and hugging. Despite being extremely happy for the two of them, I couldn't help feel extremely jealous. I just wished Severus and I could declare our love for each other publicly like they could. 


	24. Chapter 24

I sighed and drummed my fingers on the table, staring blankly at the words in my book. I was supposed to be revising with Hermione but I couldn't focus. Severus and I had had an argument the day before and hadn't seen or spoken to each other since. We'd both said some pretty harsh things we didn't mean, but couldn't find a way to reconcile. Hermione noticed I was elsewhere.

"Are you all right Lenore?"

I looked up at her; "huh? Oh, yeah, just a bit... Well no really, I'm not that good at all."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

She closed her notebook and shuffled closer, an endearing look on her face/ I shrugged.

"Boy troubles."

"I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

"Not many people do."

"Oh, well, I'm not an expert on boys really, but, maybe just getting it off your chest will help."

I nodded, thinking about how to word everything; "well... We don't get to see much of each other, and when we do, he's not really that nice to me. Well, he doesn't understand he's not being nice to me, and is only really nice to me when I'm upset. And yesterday we had a really bad argument, we said some really nasty things, and now... Well... This is where I'm at."

Hermione grimaced; "oh dear... Have you tried to speak to him?"

"No... Every time we see each other we sort of, just bolt in the opposite direction."

"I was going to ask if it was Draco then, but then I remembered he's with Tempest isn't he?"

I nodded; "yeah, I managed to set them up, but when it comes to my relationship I suck."

Hermione smiled meekly; "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, and don't apologise, it's not your fault... Shall we get revising? Take my mind off things."

"Let's."

That evening, I didn't see Severus over dinner. I sat picking at my food, not expecting Draco to come sit with me, usually because he spent all his free time with Tempest. I looked up at him, wide-eyed, when he slipped onto the bench in front of me. He began helping himself to food, not noticing me looking at him. He finally did.

"...What?"

"No Tempest?"

"Oh... No, not tonight."

I nodded sceptically; "why?"

"Just... Nothing... Well, she's fallen out with me."

"Why?"

Draco sighed and pushed his food around his plate; "can we drop it?"

"If you want."

I looked down at my plate dejectedly. Draco sighed again.

"She was asking why I hadn't told my parents about her, I said they wouldn't understand, unless she wants to pretend to be pureblood, and she freaked out! She started ranting about blood meaning nothing and all that... Like I don't get it already! I was just saying, and she blew up! I know, I'm probably in the wrong here, but, she knows me, she's knows of my family, she thinks they'd actually approve of her? I just-"

"-Draco! Calm down!"

Draco took a couple of deep breaths; "sorry, she's just really wound me up."

I nodded; "how long until you calm down?"

"Properly? I don't know... She won't come to me, and I'm not going to her, I really didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"To other's, you're probably in the wrong, but, I know you, I don't think you did anything wrong, you're just a bit dumb sometimes;" I smiled; "anyway, you want me to talk to her?"

Draco shrugged; "I don't know, I mean... If this is going to break us up, is it worth trying? She'll never really understand..."

"Come off it. You really like her! You need to help her understand."

"...I suppose... How are you and thingy anyway?"

I sighed angrily and looked at my plate; "he's an arse!"

"Oh dear, go on."

I forked some food into my mouth before going on with my story; "I was on at him about us not seeing each other enough, and him not changing despite promises that he would, and he went on at me about how he's a teacher and has more important things to think about than me! I mean, what sort of bullshit is that? I'm his wife! What could be more important? So we argued even more, and, I haven't seen him since... That was yesterday morning."

I popped some more food into my mouth and looked up, to find Draco staring at me, wide-eyed and mouth agape. I looked back at him expectantly.

"...Yes?"

"Really? You and him have had some pretty tense times, what happened here?"

"He's a dick is what happened."

"But, you still love him right?"

"I don't know. After being told I'm no way near his top priority, I'm pretty effed off right now, I don't even want to hear his name."

Draco chewed his lip; "well, you'd better get over it, we have Potions tomorrow."

"I'm not going."

"You can't just not go!"

"Watch me."

He sighed concentrated on his food. I sighed too and looked over to the staff table, wondering if Severus was ever going to show his face. Just before dessert, Draco and I managed to turn the conversation onto something more cheerful, trying to forget our problems. After eating, we meandered down the corridors, discussing some lessons and anything but our love lives. After a while, Draco suddenly decided he was feeling tired and went to his common room. I sighed, not liking being alone, and began the long walk back up to the Ravenclaw common room. I'd nearly left the dungeons when someone shouted my name. I turned round to see a Slytherin two years below me running towards me clutching a roll of parchment.

"Professor Snape asked me to give you this," he said, panting, thrusting the parchment towards me. I sighed and took it. I looked at the Slytherin, waiting for him to run off. When he eventually did, I leant against the wall, next to a fire-column, unrolling it.

"Lenore,  
I know we're not on very good terms at the moment, and it's partly my fault, but it's also partly your fault. I've been giving you space to let you think, and I think I've allowed you enough time. When you feel you're ready, I'll be waiting for my apology.  
"Severus."

I screwed the parchment up in my hand; I didn't think I'd ever been angrier. I didn't care if it wasn't allowed, I needed to see Draco to vent. I stormed back down the corridors to the entrance to the Slytherin common room; growled the password - which I knew from waiting outside it enough times - and stormed inside. The Slytherin's sat around the common looked surprised to see me.

"Draco Malfoy, where is he?"

I noticed Crabbe get up from the sofa, he pointed to a stair-case; "second door on the left."

I nodded and went up the stairs, ignoring the strange looks I was getting and the whispers that followed me. I rushed up the stairs and pushed open the second door on the left. I instantly noticed Draco lounging on his bed, talking to Blaise. He looked almost horrified to see me.

"Excuse me Blaise, can I talk to Draco?"

The other boy nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. I went and perched myself on the edge of Draco's bed; Draco sat up.

"What's up?"

I uncurled my fingers, revealing the crumpled parchment in my hand. Draco eyed it suspiciously before taking it. I glanced around the room, admiring the décor, before looking back at Draco. He'd unbuttons the top three buttons on his shirt and untied his tie, but left it draped round his neck. He tutted.

"What an arsehole!"

I nodded; "I am so angry! Look!"

I held my hand out flat, showing off how it shook. Draco took it and rubbed it with his thumbs.

"Calm down, really. He's just... Being a typical man, not fully understanding."

"I know, but... The amount of effort he went to just to get us to be together, and now he's ruining it!"

Draco nodded; "father told me, you're the only girl, well... I suppose he's just not used to being in a relationship."

"But this isn't even relationship stuff! This is common sense."

"Well, I don't know what to say..."

He pulled me into a hug; I sighed and snuggled up to him, knowing he'd calm me down. I took in a deep breath before hiding my face in the crook of his neck. Draco squeezed me tightly, rubbing my shoulder with his thumb.

"It'll be all right... I'll talk to him."

"Please do."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, imagining I was elsewhere, where the words 'Severus Snape' were never uttered. Draco eventually managed to calm me down. On the way out of the common room, I bumped into the one person I really did not want to. He looked down his nose at me, a scowl plastered on his face.

"What are you doing here?"

I shrugged innocently, very aware of the Slytherins watching; "just talking to Draco."

"And you have to be in the Slytherin common room why?"

"Because he was here."

Severus eyed my suspiciously; "come with me."

I shook my head; "I just want to go to bed actually."

His eyes narrowed; "that wasn't a request."

He grabbed the shoulder of my cloak and dragged me out of the common room and down the corridors to his classroom. He finally let go of me, I readjusted my clothes, glaring at him.

"What's wrong with you now?"

I looked at him blankly, wondering if he was just starting a conversation or genuinely didn't realise what he'd just said; "what's wrong with me? You'll be waiting for your apology? What about my apology?"

Snape walked down to the end of the classroom and sat at his desk; "What apology?"

I balled my fists; "screw you Severus."

I went to leave when I heard the lock click, I spun round, Severus was sitting back down down, lowering his wand.

"You're going nowhere Lenore."

I sighed angrily and folded my arms; "what do you want?"

"A conversation would be nice."

He charmed a chair to pull up next to the desk, and motioned towards it. I rolled my eyes and marched over to it, pulling it away from the desk, sitting down. He rolled his eyes.

"So talk," I said, looking anywhere but at him.

"Look at me please."

I glared at him; "what?"

"Cut the attitude please."

"Stop treating me like a child."

"I'll stop treating you like one when you stop acting like one!"

We sat glaring at each other, in an increasingly tense silence until he eventually said something.

"Why were you in the Slytherin common rooms?"

"I told you, I was talking to Draco."

"So why couldn't he come out? You're not supposed to be in there."

"I've broken enough rules this year Severus, I really don't care about breaking any more."

"You should care, another member of staff wouldn't have been so forgiving."

"You're not forgiving at all."

"You'd be surprised... So what were you talking to Draco about?"

"It's personal."

Snape sighed from all my deflection; "so personal you can't tell me?"

"It was about you, I don't really want to share."

"I don't care if you want to."

"Well I care, is there anything you do care about?"

"I care you're sneaking up into the boys dorms."

"Draco's dorm! Draco Malfoy! My oldest friend!"

"It makes no difference to me who it is."

"You're just looking for reasons to fall out with me. So desperate you'd create the illusion I'm cheating on you with Draco! I'm not sticking around if you're going to be like this!"

I noticed his eyes go from looking angry to looking guilty. However, I didn't care. I stood up and walked over to the door.

"Let me out."

As I got closer to the door I heard the lock click. Without looking back once, I stormed out of the room and up to my common room. On my way there, I bumped into Celeste, Neville, Dean and Seamus. They noticed I was in a bad mood and hooted at me as I walked past. I stopped and turned to glare at them.

"Something you want to say?"

They shrugged innocently, openly mocking me.

"You just look a little angry, has Malfoy said something mean?" Dean jeered.

"No, actually."

"Probably just her time of the month," Seamus chipped in. They all laughed. I pretended to laugh too.

"You are so funny Seamus, you too Dean. I've got a joke too..."

I pulled my wand out; they all did the same. At that moment, Ron, Harry and Hermione walked up the corridor. They all ran over.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, slowly pulling his own wand out.

"I bet it was you," Ron said, looking at me disgustedly.

"Oh yeah, I'm friends with Draco so immediately any conflict between Gryffindors and myself is instantly my fault. I think you'll find they started it!"

Hermione stood at my side; "look guys, she's having a bad day, just lay off."

I'd never been happier to have accidentally befriended Hermione. Harry nodded sceptically. I put my wand down, however they didn't lower theirs. I shot Hermione a quick smile, to say thank you for standing up for me.

"She's still the one that drew her wand first," Celeste said.

"I thought you two were friends? And like I said, she's having a bad day, by the looks of it it's gotten worse, and then you lot start provoking her, she's bound to do something silly like raise her wand to you. Why don't you just leave her alone?"

This seemed to convince Harry; he put his wand back in his jeans and stood next to Hermione; "come on guys, let's just go back to our houses."

I nodded and walked off up the corridor, without saying a word to anyone.


	25. Chapter 25

The next day was even worse than the previous days. I woke up feeling terrible, with a splitting headache and a general feeling of weakness. I pulled my robes on and set off down to the hospital wing. There were a couple of students milling around, having either seriously injured themselves, or complaining of minor ailments in an attempt to get them out of morning lessons. Madame Pomphrey finally got me.

"And what's wrong with you?"

"Migraine, and I feel quite weak."

She eyed me suspiciously before pointing to a bed; "sit there, I'll come back to you."

I nodded and sat down, looking around at everyone who was injured or ill. After she'd dismissed everyone who was faking being ill, Madame Pomphrey came back over to me.

"Now, you say you feel weak?"

I nodded. She held her hand out.

"Squeeze my hand."

I grabbed her hand and squeezed as hard as I could, which wasn't very hard at all. Poppy nodded.

"Yes, ok, and a migraine? Just a minute."

She hurried off to her office. I was rarely at the hospital wing, so was unaware of the etiquette. Luckily however, at that moment, Draco walked past the door and noticed me. He walked over to me.

"What's up?"

I shrugged; "just not feeling great."

Draco nodded; "I guess you're skipping Potions then?"

"I was going to anyway, oh, you didn't hear about last night did you."

His eyes widened; "what happened?"

I looked around; "I'll tell you in a minute."

He nodded. Madame Pomphrey came back over holding a flask of blue-ish liquid.

"Drink this, you should feel better in an hour. It's best if you don't go into lessons this morning."

I nodded and drank the liquid, which tasted like carrots. I looked at the flask suspiciously; Madame Pomphrey took it but paused.

"Is there a problem with you too Mr Malfoy?"

Draco shook his head; "just seeing Lenore."

She nodded and walked off. I slid off the bed and wandered out of the hospital wing.

"So what happened?" Draco asked. I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him outside.

"Well, I'd just left your dorm, and Snape was in the common room. He collared me and made me go to his office with him, and then went on about me owing him an apology, and thinks we're having an affair."

Draco looked at me wide-eyed; "we... As in, me and you?"

I nodded; "yes."

"What the hell?"

"I know!"

Draco was clearly furious; "...I could kill him! I don't want to go into Potions either."

"We can't skip, that'll only make him think it more."

"Let him think it. He's not worth it."

I shrugged and looked at the floor; "I don't know... I mean, on the one hand I see how he comes to these sort of conclusions, but, really? Why you? He's knows we've been friends since forever..."

"I think you got into this too fast... He's not the man you thought he was."

I said nothing. Draco smiled meekly and put his arm round me.

"You're not going to leave him are you?"

I shrugged; "no."

He pulled me into a hug; "I'll try to sort things out for you."

I smiled and hugged him back, resting my head on his shoulder. I'd never noticed before, but Draco smelt amazing. He smelt of aftershave, whereas Snape had a bizarre smell, of whatever Potions he'd been making that day. I took in a deep breath through my nose to get a better smell. Draco laughed and pushed me away slightly.

"Are you sniffing me?"

I smirked; "you smell awesome."

He smirked too; "new aftershave, mother sent it."

"It's amazing! I want it!"

"It's for men."

"So what are you doing with it?"

Draco laughed and pushed me playfully; "I'm more man than you think I am."

"Whatever Draco... Anyway, you'd best head off to Potions before Snape kills you or something."

"Very well, I'll see you later."

He gave me another quick hug and walked back into the castle. I smiled to myself and decided to go for a walk around the grounds, to clear my mind and focus on what I needed to do. I wandered down to the Black Lake and sat under a tree. Despite it being freezing, I wasn't that cold. When I did began to feel a bit cold, I conjured a small controlled fire to keep me warm. It was a nice clear day out. There were no clouds - which made it colder - and the sun was out, but too far away to actually provide any warmth to the Earth. I looked out across the lake, the water was extremely still, aside from the occasional ripple from the Giant Squid down below. I sat playing with my wand, transfiguring rocks into random objects, changing the colour of the fire, and making it snow over a small patch of grass. Whilst entertaining myself, I imagined scenarios involving Draco reprimanding Severus for his behaviour towards me. I couldn't imagine it ending well, either Draco getting a detention or worse for "speaking to him with such insolence", or Severus realising the relationship wasn't working. Either way, Draco was the best friend I'd ever had, and probably the only one at the moment. For him to march up to Snape and scold him for being a bad husband would be one of the bravest and most likely, last things he'd ever do.

Before I knew it, the bell rang and it was break. Towards the end of the break, I noticed someone wandering towards me. They had a messy head of blonde hair and looked more like they were floating than walking. There wasn't a doubt in my mind over who it was. I jumped up and ran over to Tempest, hoping to help out Draco's relationship seeing as he intended to help mine.

"Hey Tempest."

She smiled; "hi... Do you not have lessons?"

I shook my head; "got the morning off, I'm ill."

"Oh all right, I have a free period. What are you doing down here?"

I shrugged; "just enjoying the solitude."

Tempest nodded; "so... Have you uh, heard about Draco and-"

"-I have... Look, I know he can be a real prat sometimes, but he doesn't mean it. He's quite socially retarded, he doesn't know how to act around people. He really didn't mean to offend you with the blood-status stuff, really-"

"-I know he didn't mean to offend me, but, he's just not going to change is he? I don't want him to be ashamed of me."

"He's not ashamed, it's just, his parents, his father in particular are very unforgiving. If he came home with anyone who wasn't pureblood, or a 'blood-traitor', he'd be disowned, probably beaten within an inch of his life... He doesn't think it's worth it. He'd rather have his family than a girlfriend."

Tempst sighed; "I understand, but, if that's the case, is there any point in us being together? If we can't even be together..."

I sighed too; "so is that it?"

She shrugged; "I don't know. For now though, yes."

I nodded; "ok."

We both wandered over to where I was previously sat, and sat in an awkward silence. After a couple of minutes, Tempest finally broke the silence.

"So, how are you and Severus?"

I shrugged; "not so great... We keep arguing, and the other day we had a really bad argument, he even accused me of going behind his back with Draco!"

"Really? But, you and Draco are just-"

"-I know! Well, we only really see each other in lessons, so the distance is ruining us, because he's always so busy doing other stuff, then when he does make time to see me it's just, dull. We don't say anything to each other, we sit on other sides of the room... Not to gross you out or anything, but he hasn't touched me since Christmas."

Tempest nodded, cringing slightly; "really? I know he's busy, but there's no reason why he can't treat you like his girlfriend."

"Exactly."

I sighed and cast a hex at an unsuspecting rock, making it explode. Tempest looked at me worriedly.

"...Are you going to be all right?"

I nodded; "I'll be fine, I just need to release my anger... Only blowing things up and shouting isn't working."

"How do you normally do it?"

"Well, usually Severus was there for me to take my anger out on... But now I think I'll be sent to Azkaban if I took my anger out on him."

Tempest nodded; "oh..."

At dinner, I ran up to the castle to find Draco. He was milling around the dungeons with Blaise, discussing homework. I ran over and jumped on his back; him being unprepared meant we fell to the floor. I laughed and rolled off him.

"Hello Draco."

"Thanks Lenore, I think you've broken me."

"Surely not."

I pulled myself to my feet and helped Draco up.

"Feeling better now then?" he asked, brushing dust off himself. I shrugged.

"A bit..."

Draco looked at Blaise then back at me; "um, I'll tell you later."

I looked at him sceptically before nodding, understanding what he meant. The three of us wandered around the castle, going to the kitchens for food instead of the Great Hall.

"I was with Tempest earlier," I said, suddenly. Draco looked at me.

"Oh?"

"It's not looking hopeful. She thinks you're ashamed of her, and even if you're not, if your parents won't let you be together she doesn't see the point."

Draco nodded; "fine."

I looked at him confoundedly; "fine? I thought-"

"-Nope. I'm giving up on women, I'll be a distinguished bachelor, having women when I please with no attachments."

I laughed; "really Draco? You, distinguished?"

Draco laughed too and hit my arm playfully; "I think you'll find I'm perfect for the job. What do you think Blaise?"

Blaise shrugged; "I think I might join you there."

That evening, after dinner, I joined Draco on a walk through the dungeon corridors, discussing what had happened in Potions.

"He asked where you were, and obviously didn't believe me when I said you were ill... Then after lesson I actually got the balls to tell him off."

I smiled; "what did you say?"

"Um, he needs to man up and face his problems, because isolating you isn't going to make you or them go away. And that, you do love him, he just needs to stop being a dick to you, and needs to actually put time aside to see you and treat you right... He then, went on to tell me to keep my greasy nose out of his business and that it didn't involve me at all. I said it does involve me, you're my best friend and I took a vow to set him straight if he hurt you. And then he sort of flew off the handle. He told me to get out, stop assuming things about you two, and said if you really wanted to sort things out you'd be telling him and not be getting me to do it for you. He also called me your stupid little boyfriend."

I sighed angrily; "seriously? He's sticking to that story?"

Draco nodded and put his arm round my shoulders; "I think you should go knock some sense into him, or just call it a day."

"Later, right now I could happily hang him up by his intestines... I am so, fucking angry!"

Draco laughed nervously; "come here..."

He pulled me into a tight hug, I buried my face into his neck, he still smelt as amazing as he had that morning. He stroked my hair, I began feeling calm instantly.

"I have an idea!" he said, holding me at arms length. I nodded.

"Yes?"

"Let's go for a swim."

"No way! It's freezing outside!"

Draco laughed; "no, I mean in the prefects bathroom."

"Oh, but-"

"-Ignore everything, come on, we haven't done it since fourth year!"

I sighed, pretending the idea was stupid, when really it was the best idea he'd had in a while. We used to go swimming in the prefects bathroom all the time in fourth year, and made so many memories; for example, our first kiss. We'd both kissed when we were toddlers, but that didn't count. The time in the bathroom was when we were discussing our love lives, and neither of us had kissed anyone. The brilliant idea was Draco's, and it was just an experiment.

"Let's go then."

We quickly ran up to both our common rooms to get bathing suits, before going up to the Prefect's bathroom. Whilst we waited for the bath to fill, I made Draco turn around so I could get changed, and made sure I was in the water before he could turn around.

"You know I'm going to see you anyway," he said, unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it to the floor. I shrugged.

"So?"

I turned to face him and was genuinely shocked. He looked back at me questioningly.

"Yes?"

"When the hell did you get buff?"

Draco laughed and stepped out of his trousers, revealing his trunks underneath; "uh, I don't know... I started working out a bit last summer."

"I don't believe you."

"Not the summer just gone, the one before that."

"Oh, right..."

I watched him lower himself into the water, unable to take my eyes off his toned stomach and wondering why Tempest could even consider leaving him. He may have been a prat 90% of the time, but his body certainly made up for everything.

"Will you stop staring?"

I laughed; "sorry, I'm just so used to you being so bloody scrawny!"

"Well, Scrawny Draco is a thing of the past."

"Buff Draco is now in the house! Well, castle"

Draco laughed and began swimming about; "what was it you said earlier about me not being able to be a bachelor?"

"Ok, I take it back, but how was I to know you were hiding that?"

"Your point being? Why didn't you tell me you were hiding that?"

He nodded towards my chest. My jaw dropped and I covered my chest.

"You can fuck right off Malfoy! My chest is none of your concern!"

Draco smirked and lay down, floating on the top of the water; "neither are my abs... Anyway, they've got to be D's at least."

"I'm going to drown you. And I'm going to bloody enjoy it!"

Draco laughed and went back to standing it the water; "bring it on! I'm now too strong for you to be able to take on! Unless you plan on knocking me out with those or-"

I dived over to where he was, nearly reaching him, but the force of the water held me back. Draco laughed again and began wading away from me, I chased after. We both went round the edge of the bath three times before calling it a draw.

"Thanks for this Draco, you've really taken my mind of such silly things."

Draco smiled; "good... I needed this too."

"I thought you were over Tempest?"

"Yeah, I'm not that heartless."

"Oh..."

I watched him; his smile said he was happy, but his eyes said he was sad.

"You know... She was the first girl I properly liked, and then my stupid family mess it up... I suppose it's better it ended now than later, it'd hurt more in the future."

I nodded; "at least you didn't have to marry her to find out it wouldn't work!"

Draco smiled; "that's not your fault though, that's his for being a massive cock. He fights so hard to keep you, then the moment he wins he decides he doesn't want you any more. He's a spoilt child, he wants what he can't have."

I nodded; "now he has me, I'm boring."

"Only you're not. You're nice, and fun, and have huge-"

"-Stop there before I kill you."

Draco grinned and splashed me; "stop being miserable then. We came here to forget everything and everyone beyond those doors."

I nodded; "yes, now, what shall we do?"

Draco shrugged; "who can hold their breath longest?"

I smirked; "me, I always win."

"Ah, but I've been working out."

"Bring it on!"

We both took a deep breath and submerged ourselves under the water. After a few seconds of being underwater, I felt the water pressure change around me. Suddenly hand began tickling me underneath my armpit, making me shout out; however, being underwater it also meant I took in a breath of water. I shot to the surface, choking. Draco emerged too, laughing.

"Are you trying to drown me?"

Draco smirked; "sorry, I didn't know you'd die!"

I glared at him, waiting until I'd gotten all the water out of my lungs before going after him. We both chased around the bath again a couple of times, before Draco gave up and let me dunk his head under the water.

"We're even now," he said, wiping the water from his face. I smirked and punched his shoulder.

"For now."

"Well, that's killed a bit of time."

I laughed and rest against the side of the bath, catching my breath. Draco, meanwhile, went swimming about again. Despite him being my oldest friend, I couldn't take my eyes off him. The same thoughts repeated in the back of my head; "he's single, I may as well be single, and he's suddenly very good looking". I ducked under the water and swam underneath him, grabbing his leg and pulling him under with me. We both began play fighting, trying to pull each other to the very bottom and putting each other into headlocks. Draco was the first to need to catch his breath. We both swam up to the surface, taking in deep breaths the moment we hit the air. We both laughed, unsure why.

"Told you I could my breath longer!" I gloated. Draco rolled his eyes.

"You were prepared! I was yanked under without the chance to get a breath! I think I did quite well!"

"You'd have thought snogging Tempest would have prepared you to hold your breath."

I laughed at the bewildered look on Draco's face.

"How do you snog people? You can breathe out of your nose you know."

"I know. And I'm pretty damn good at kissing, actually."

"Sure, if you say so."

I went to hit him but he ducked under the water. I rolled my eyes and waited for him to surface. Suddenly, he grabbed my legs and pulled me underwater. We began fighting again like we were before. Draco got me in a headlock, but needed air. We both resurfaced and took in another deep breath.

"You suck at holding your breath!" I laughed, pulling out of his headlock, but leaving his arm over my shoulder. Draco shrugged. He took his arm back from round me to push his hair back out of his face and wipe the water off his face. Before I could tell myself no, I jumped onto him, pressing my lips to his, and tangling my fingers into his hair. It dawned on me what I was doing, and I was going to pull away when Draco's arms snaked around my waist, pulling me closer. Our lips disconnected for less than a second whilst we took in a breath before coming back together, full of passion. He started pulling away slightly, gently biting my bottom lip and pulling my mouth open so he could slip his tongue in. I took my hand from the back of his neck and pressed it against his chest, feeling his muscles tense. He began pushing me towards the edge of the bath, pinning me against it when we got there.

* * *

**AN: I'm going to stop there, because this is the longest chapter I've written for this story, and I feel like being a little cruel. _Just when it was getting good! You bitch!_ Also... Do any mature fic-writers want to help me on the next chapter? Because I've been asked for a bit more smut in the story! :')**


	26. Chapter 26

Draco s tongue dove into my mouth coaxing my tongue into action. His hands slid from my waist down to my butt, gripping before lifting me so I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist pulling his lower body into mine. A moan escaped my lips as I felt his eagerness press into me through the small bikini bottoms. I felt him smirk against my lips as he slowly kissed his way from my lips, trailing down my neck, past my collarbone, and delving to gently nip at the top. Draco looked up at me smirking, one of his hands briefly disappeared, reappearing when I felt a tug at the strings that held the top on.

Draco! I gasped as my top fell off, nipples hardening at the cool air. Draco however have a mute reply as he darted back down, his tongue flicking over one of my nipples while his hand paid attention to the other. Huffing hard, I laced my fingers through his blonde hair and roughly tugged him back up to my lips, kissing him roughly as I pressed my chest against his. I felt the smirk on his lips seconds before his fingers wrapped around the sides of my bottoms, eagerly pulling at them. Panting for breath I pulled back, nipping at the area just below his ear.

Yours first, I whispered into his ear and I felt all of his support disappear as he jumped slightly, his bottoms floating to the top next to us. I don t know how he did it but in seconds my bottoms were floating next to his. I pushed my hips away slightly, feeling him brush against my heat. There was no hesitation as he pressed into me, entering me completely with just one thrust. I threw my head back in a loud moan, rocking my hips down against his.

Lenore, he moaned my name into my ear, quickly thrusting inside of me. I panted as he continued relentlessly thrust into me, slowly building the pressure in my stomach. He stroked a spot within me and that was I all I needed. Crying out in pleasure I clenched around him tightly as I came, sensitive from not being touched for so long. Draco didn't go much longer before he climaxed as well, his body shaking as his jaw fell slack, he continued to thrust a couple more times before stopping completely. Panting softly he leaned his forehead against mine, his soft lips brushing against mine.

I pressed my lips back against him and slowly pulled off of him to sit on the side of the bath. I looked down at him, water dripping down my body. Draco s eyes once again raked up and down my body as he moved to stand between my legs, his hands resting on my thighs. I could see in his eyes that he regretted nothing. I looked deeply into his eyes, ignoring his stunning blue eyes, and that s when it hit me. The stomach churning feeling of complete regret. Draco chuckled and kissed my forehead.

"That was great."

I smiled meekly; "it was... Very wrong too."

Draco nodded; "I suppose..."

"Shall we go then?"

We both grabbed our floating swimming costumes and got dressed, climbing out of the bath. As I went over to my towel I glanced over at Draco, and by the looks of it he was looking at me too. I felt torn in two. On the one hand, I was very guilty about what had just happened; just because Severus and I are having problems is no reason to cheat on him with the first guy that comes along. However, another part of me wouldn't hesitate to do it again; for his first time, Draco had been very good, and it didn't once feel wrong. I wrapped my towel round me, patting my skin dry, unable to take my eyes off Draco was stood confidently, rubbing his towel over his chest and arms. I sighed and turned around to take away the temptation, quickly getting dressed. When I turned back around, Draco had his trousers on, and his shirt was open, still revealing his chest. I quickly cast a charm to dry my hair and waited for Draco to be ready. We awkwardly smiled at each other and wandered out of the bathroom, down the corridors to my common room. We stopped at the bottom of the staircase of the Ravenclaw tower, avoiding each other's eyes; it was as if we were awkward teenagers on our first date.

"See you tomorrow then," Draco finally said. I nodded.

"Yup."

We finally looked into each other's eyes; I could tell we were thinking the same thing, but knew we had to resist. He chewed on his lip and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, good night."

We edged around each other before finally pulling each other into a hug. I closed my eyes as we embraced, images of what we'd done flashed across my mind. We pulled away slightly.

"Good night Draco."

I began pushing my weight against his arms, waiting for him to let go of me, but he just held me tighter, before pulling me closer. His lips brushed softly against my own, making me want him even more. He began to pull away, but I wasn't satisfied with the non-kiss; I pushed myself against him, covering his mouth with my own. I felt his hands stroke across my back, one sliding upwards and resting between my shoulder-blades, pulling me closer to him, and his other resting on my backside, squeezing gently occasionally. I rest both my hands on his chest, poised for pushing away if need be. The kiss continued for a few seconds longer before our faces drew apart. I looked down at his chest, feeling his breath on my face.

"Um... Night then."

Draco nodded and let go of me, catching my hand as both our arms fell to our sides. We both began walking in our separate directions, still holding hands until we couldn't reach any more, just letting them fall back to our side. I sighed to myself and softly shuffled up the stairs, listening to Draco's footsteps as he walked off. I now felt even worse. Before, in the bath it was just sex, and sex could be explained away, but when emotions were involved it got worse. I trudged past everyone in the common room, up to my dorm room and collapsed on my bed. Unfortunately, Celeste was also lying on her bed; I rolled onto my side, facing away from her and thought about what I could do. I may have developed a very irrational lust for Draco, but Severus was my husband, and I did love him - even if he was a complete arse as of late.

"Are you not talking to me then?"

I looked round, Celeste was looking at me expectantly; "excuse me?"

"Is that how it is now? You just blank me?"

"What on Earth are you talking about? Ever since you got with Neville you've been too good to associate with me. Why would I want to talk to anyone who thinks they're better than me?"

Celeste growled and turned away from me. I shook my head and pulled the curtains shut around my bed.

The next day I was feeling more confident about everything. I'd woken up in the middle of the night and had an epiphany. As I walked down to the Great Hall, I was ambushed, and dragged into a classroom. I spun round and was met with the hardened face of my husband.

"It's about time we spoke."

I nodded; "I know."

He motioned towards a chair and charmed the lock shut on the door. He pulled out a seat and sat opposite me, staring at me intently.

"What's wrong?"

"...What?"

"With you, why are you so angry with me?"

I shrugged; "just a mixture of everything. How you can't seem to make time for me, and when you finally do you waste it. You're always making excuses, it's like you don't even want to be with me! You don't show me any affection... You spent so much time and effort into getting us to be together, and now we are together and you just don't seem to care! You've got me and now you don't want me."

Severus sighed and paused to see if that was all before replying; "I do want you, and I do care, more than you think. Before Christmas, everything was different; I had time to spare, I was trying to keep things fresh to keep you interested... Now I have you it didn't feel necessary to do the same, and I've been very busy. I don't think you appreciate how much I have to do."

I nodded; "I still don't see how that all stops you treating me like you love me, showing me affection, and showing me that you care."

"I understand... But we're both new to this, we need to work at it and not go our separate ways every time something doesn't work."

"That includes you."

Severus nodded; "I know."

He stood up and held his hand out. I took it; he pulled me up and wrapped his arms round me. I buried my face into his chest, feeling secure. However, there was one thing worrying me. I wasn't sure whether to come clean about Draco and I, or just hope I can keep it a secret from him for the rest of our time together. I was afraid telling him would ruin this moment, and cause more problems, so I just kept my mouth shut. Severus stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head.

"I love you."

I smiled and looked up at him; "I love you too."

He kissed me softly, running a hand through my hair.

"Can you take some time out for me tonight?"

He let out a deep breath and held me at arms length, contemplating; "...I think I could work something out."

I smiled and snuggled up to him; being with Severus felt natural, but I still couldn't shake the thoughts of Draco from my mind. After being with him, being with Severus still felt natural, but didn't feel as exciting. We finally pulled away.

"You should go to breakfast."

I nodded, pecked him softly on the lips and left. I strolled into the Great Hall, happier than I'd been in a while. My life was starting to fall into place, I just had to smooth out one crease. I instantly spotted said crease sat picking at his food at the Slytherin table. I sat down next to him, he smiled when he saw me.

"Morning."

"Good morning, you seem quite chipper."

I shrugged; "I've had a chat with Snape... We're, sort of working things out."

Draco's smile shrunk a little; "oh, really?"

"Yeah... And about last night. It was really, just, a massive mistake."

Draco nodded and looked at his food, avoiding looking at me; "I know."

"It didn't, mean anything to you, did it?"

Draco laughed nervously, but tried to pass it off as an arrogant laugh; "are you kidding? It was just experimentation, you know. Heat of the moment, no strings attached, meaningless..."

He trailed off and went back to looking at his plate. I smiled meekly, not fully convinced.

That evening I went down to the dungeons to see Snape, to talk things over some more and maybe actually be a couple. I'd spent all day debating whether or not to come clean about the night before. I wasn't sure I could live with the guilt of cheating and lying. To make it worse, Draco had been acting strange. He was very evasive and distant. I also caught him muttering to himself on occasion. I let myself into Severus' classroom. He was sat at his desk marking; he looked up and smiled before going back to his work. I pulled up a seat next to him. He put his quill down and looked at me.

"So..."

I chewed my lip and took in a deep breath; "um, Sev... Seeing as we're talking things through... I had sex with Draco, last night."

I didn't want to be so blunt, but I also didn't want to edge around it. The warm look on his face vanished, he had a look of horror and surprise; "...What?"

I sighed and looked down; "it just happened. I know that doesn't make it right-"

"-Of course not!"

"But, I don't even know. We were in the prefects bath, relaxing; we were having problems, Draco's just broken up with Tempest, we were messing about, just trying to forget everything, and well, then next you know."

I noticed him look disgusted as I told the story; "there isn't a fine line between 'messing about' and having sex! So after all this time of you saying there's nothing going on and then-"

"-No! It was just last night, just this one time!"

"Oh that's all right then is it? You have no idea what's been going through my mind these past few days, and then you go and-"

"-It's not like that! It's not a full-on affair, it was a one-off! It wasn't supposed to happen, we were just trying to cheer each other up after having rough days and it just happened! I felt terrible straight after! Even though at the time I couldn't stand you. I could have not felt remorseful at all, but I do love you, and-"

"-That's how you're justifying it? You feel bad? What about my feelings?"

I sighed and looked at the floor; I just wished he'd shout at me and get over it, but I knew that would never happen. He'd drag this out, making me feel worse than I ever thought I could, and quite rightly.

"I'm sorry."

I stared at the floor, hearing him shout at me, but not listening to what he said. I could feel my eyes burn, my vision blurred as tears formed.

"You know what, just go."

I looked up and wiped the tears from my eyes; "what? Are we not even going to talk it-"

"-You're not even listening to me! I don't want to see you right now, get out of my sight."

I couldn't have ran out of the classroom any quicker than I did. I jogged through the corridors, trying to go the quickest route to the common room whilst also bypassing corridors people were usually on. I'd just taken a left onto a corridor which led away from the Slytherin common room, looking both ways to see if anyone was there. Unluckily, Draco was. He saw me and shouted me, I just took off in the opposite direction. I could hear him running after me, calling my name. I eventually couldn't run any more and let him catch up with me. He instantly noticed I was crying and wrapped his arms around me protectively, stroking my hair and telling me 'it was ok'. We slid to the floor, me curled up in Draco's arms, crying into his chest. I eventually finished crying; Draco pushed me away to look into my eyes. He wiped the tears from my hair and smiled meekly.

"What's wrong? Is it Snape?"

I nodded; "I told him."

Draco sighed and hugged my head, holding it tightly against his chest; "what did you tell him for?"

"I thought it'd be better to just come out and tell him than have him find out later..."

He nodded and stroked my hair; "ok... Did he go mental?"

"Yes, understandably."

"So... What's going to happen?"

I shrugged; "I don't know... He sent me out, didn't want to look at me."

Draco sighed again; "fool. It's his fault all of this happened."

"Well, not really... He didn't force us to have sex."

"No, but he forced us into the situation."

"He has the right to be angry, Draco," I sighed; "I cheated on him. The circumstances aren't relevant."

"He'll come round. If not, he's a bigger idiot than I thought. I'd take you back if you cheated on me."

"...No you wouldn't."

Draco smiled meekly; "I would."

I frowned; "...It meant something to you, didn't it?"

His head dropped; "well, it was my virginity Lenore, I'm bound to get attached. Seeing how upset Snape made you, made me realise how, amazing you are. He made you miserable and you still love him... You deserve better."

I sighed and hid my face in his chest. He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my back, shifting me about so we were more comfortable lay on the floor. I looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, Draco."

He looked back at me confoundedly; "for what?"

I shrugged; "using you, making you feel-"

"-Don't. Whatever I feel for you is my own doing... How anyone could not like you is beyond me. Snape had better get over this quickly or he's going to lose you."

I smiled meekly and his my face in his chest again. We lay in each other's arms on the corridor until Draco cleared his throat. He pushed me off and got to his feet, pulling me to my feet.

"I'm going to talk to him."

"No Draco, don't! You're the last person he wants to see!"

Draco shrugged; "I don't care, he can do what he wants to me..."

I grabbed onto his arm; "please don't."

He shook his arm free and began walking down the corridors. I jumped in front of him and tried to push him back.

"Really Draco, you're just going to make it worse, let him work it out on his own."

"Don't Lenore, he needs to realise he's not the only person in the world, and just because he'd a teacher doesn't mean he can treat you like he does."

"He doesn't treat me-"

"-I'm going to talk to him, you, go to bed or something, relax."

He grabbed my hands and forced me to the side, walking past. I sighed and rest against the wall, watching Draco walk off confidently. I was afraid the next time I saw him would be in the hospital wing.

The next morning, instead of going to the Great Hall, I wandered around the corridors, worrying myself. The first people who stopped to talk to me were the Golden Trio. Hermione scurried over to me and grabbed my arm.

"What happened with Draco?"

I looked back at her blankly; "what are you talking about?"

"He's got a black eye and he's walking a bit funny."

My jaw dropped; "what?"

I barged past them all and ran up to the Great Hall. Draco was still there, sat at the far corner on his own, staring at the table. I jogged up to him and grabbed his shoulders, looking at his bruised face.

"What happened?"

He shrugged; "it's not as bad as you think."

"You have a black eye and a limp!"

"Look... He just, pushed me, I stumbled and hit my face on a desk."

"Really?"

He nodded; "I promise, I'm just clumsy, he didn't hit me."

I sighed; "ok... So what did he say?"

"It's none of my business, and I'm a terrible person for taking advantage of you, how is he supposed to make it work when I'm there fucking it up at every opportunity... That sort of stuff..."

"Nothing about me?"

"He said when he's ready he'll talk to you, not me."

I nodded; "all right..."

He put his arm round me; "are you going to Potions?"

I shrugged; "I'll have to..."

"Can you help me there then? My leg hurts a bit."

I smiled; "do you not want to go to the hospital wing?"

He shrugged; "nah."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, helping him up. Draco hobbled at my side, leaning on me for support as we slowly made our way down to the dungeons. I could tell neither of us wanted to turn up to Potions, but we had to suck it up and spend an hour with Snape. When we got to the classroom, it was empty. I helped Draco into his seat and sat next to him, getting my books out.

"So what was least lesson?"

Draco shrugged; "like I paid attention..."

He pulled his books from his bag and dropped them in front of me. I took his book and flicked through to the last pages of work.

"You know, if you want, I know a spell that will cover up your black eye."

"I'm fine, I think it makes me look rugged."

I laughed; "really? Why do you want to look rugged?"

"I don't know... I was going to say it'll help me pull, but who exactly am I trying to pull?"

I shrugged innocently, not wanting to bring up the idea of us. I made some quick notes on what I'd missed, planning on copying them up fully later. People began turning up, sitting down and getting their books out. Eventually, Snape turned up, and didn't look like he was a good mood.

"Do the potion we discussed last lesson, and make as little noise as possible!"

Everyone began collecting ingredients and setting up their cauldrons. As I went to get some of the ingredients, Snape came up behind me.

"Nice of you to turn up to lesson."

"I can't avoid just because you're here."

"Stay behind, I want to speak to you."

I sighed and nodded.

After lesson, I ushered Draco out of the classroom and waited for everyone else to leave, leaving Severus and I. I stood awkwardly by my desk, waiting for him to speak.

"I hope Malfoy told you the truth."

"He fell."

Snape nodded and perched himself on the edge of the desk next to mine. I played with my fingers anxiously, wanting to know what this confrontation was about. Severus sighed and rest his hands on his lap.

"You and Draco... Was it just sex?"

I nodded; "yes."

He nodded and paused before continuing; "ok."

I looked at him impatiently, waiting for him to say something else; "...Ok?"

"Yes... What?"

"What about, us?"

He shrugged and stood up; "what about us?"

I shook my head and looked at my feet; "can I go?"

"No."

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me through to his office; forcing me down in his chair. I looked up at him, unsure what was going on. I watched him pace around the office before standing behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed them.

"Severus-"

"-Shh"

He gathered all my hair behind my head and leant closer, burying his nose in it. I could feel my hands shaking, I'd never been this on edge. His hands stroked forward, stroking my shoulders, his fingers sliding underneath my shirt, sending tingles around my body. I could tell he was smirking as I shivered underneath his touch.

"Malfoy mentioned you were frustrated I never touch you."

I bit my lip, refusing to say anything. He scraped some hair back and kissed my temple, stroking a finger underneath my chin. He began leaving a trail of kisses down my cheek and neck. I tried to not let this suddenly shower of passion affect me, but it was hard not to. He began nibbling on my neck, causing me to take in a sharp breath.

"Severus..."

He looked up at me with a straight face, I couldn't tell what he actually wanted from me. Suddenly, he took my hands and pulled me out of the chair, sitting in it himself and pulling me on top of him so I was straddling him.

"I think you should make it up to me, for being unfaithful," he murmured, placing my hands on the back of the chair. I nodded, feeling a little apprehensive about what he wanted.

* * *

**AN: Credit to Punkrockerballerina for the sex scene.**


	27. Chapter 27

I rest my head against Severus' as he kissed my neck, gasping when he pinched my skin between his teeth. I tangled my hands in his hair, pulling on it occasionally; I could feel his hands travelling down my sides, slipping underneath my pullover and untucking my shirt from my trousers. His hands were cold and made me jerk towards him when he slid them underneath my shirt. He shuffled forwards in the chair so our bodies were pressed together, and pulled my legs round him. He stopped kissing my neck and looked up at me, I stared back, noticing the hungry look in his eyes.

"Severus... What do you want?"

Instead of replying he forced his lips to mine; I can't remember him ever being this passionate, but it was different, and I liked it. His fingers hooked themselves underneath the hem of my pullover and lifted it over my head, breaking the kiss for less than a second. I ran my hands down to his chest; Severus ran his down my back before sliding them round to my front, fiddling with the bottom buttons on my shirt. He swiftly worked his way to the top button, pulling my shirt open. His lips left mine, kissing their way down to my collar bone. I moaned quietly and dropped my head back, closing my eyes, as Severus kissed from one shoulder to the other, slowly stroking his hands up my waist. I looked back down at him and pulled his face up to meet mine. The two of us were breathing heavily, hands running over each other's bodies. I was stroking my hand down his chest, undoing his buttons when there was a noise back in the classroom. We both paused, looking at the door, waiting to see if it was someone just collecting something they'd forgotten. Someone knocked on the door. Severus jumped up, nearly throwing me to the floor. I stumbled backwards, he grabbed my arm to stop me falling and grabbed his wand off the desk. I was just going to redress myself when my clothes did it for me; I looked over at Severus who had his wand pointed at me. He opened the door, Professor Sprout was stood smiling.

"Professor Snape, you asked me to bring you some knotgrass," she said, holding up a wooden box. Severus smiled meekly and took it.

"Thank you."

She looked in and saw me, then, still smiling, she left. After putting the box down, Severus turned to me.

"You should go."

I sighed, wishing we could have continued; "must I?"

"Yes, leave."

I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder; "...What about us? Are we-"

"-We'll discuss it later."

I nodded apprehensively before leaving. I jogged up the corridors to the Transfiguration classroom, Draco was there, leaning against the wall. He jumped up when he saw me.

"What happened?"

I took in a deep breath and leant on the wall; "I don't know."

"...You don't know?"

I shrugged; "he didn't really say anything... We just..."

Draco leant closer; "you just..."

I shrugged again; "we just, sort of... You know."

"Really? That's what he wanted?"

"Apparently."

"Git."

"It didn't happen! Professor Sprout interrupted."

A smirk spread across his face; "really?"

I rolled my eyes; "yes."

He chuckled; "sorry, but it's kind of funny... Did he not say anything else?"

"Not really, he said we'd talk later."

"Shag now, talk later?"

"I don't know what you're getting at Draco, it's a man thing isn't it? Except the talking bit..."

Draco laughed; "all right, fair enough, but still..."

Both of us fell silent, not sure what to talk about. I occasionally glanced sideways at him, remembering what he was hiding underneath his uniform. I sighed in frustration and turned away from him, trying to focus my mind on something else.

I didn't see Severus at all until after dinner, when he sent for me. I meandered down the corridors, apprehensive about seeing him in case he wasn't as "chipper" as he was earlier. When I finally got onto the corridor his classroom was on I noticed a tall black figure leaning on his door.

"Someone took their time."

His voice made me shiver; "sorry."

I hurried over to him; he held the door open for me and waited for me to talk into his classroom before following me in. I automatically walked through to his office and stood by his desk. Severus locked the door behind him - worrying me slightly - and sat down behind his desk; lacing his fingers together and looking at me expectantly.

"So, Lenore..."

I looked back at him, knowing he had something he wanted to say. I nodded, waiting for him to go on.

"...How do you intend on... Compensating me then?"

I noticed a small smirk tug at the corner of his mouth. I shook my head and shrugged.

"I don't know..."

"Well you'd better get thinking..."

He waved his wand in a circular motion and a chair appeared next to his desk. He looked at me expectantly, and watched me awkwardly shuffle over to the chair and sit down. It was as if he was my teacher again, not my husband. I knew I shouldn't be afraid of him, but scaring people was a skill Severus definitely had, and it came easy to him. As soon as I sat the chair he grabbed the leg and dragged it closer to him. I looked at him apprehensively; he slid his hand up my leg, resting it on my thigh. I could feel his breath on my face; I'd never felt this uncomfortable in his presence before.

"Severus..."

He glanced over me before looking into my eyes; "yes?"

"...What are you doing?"

"Surveying my wife."

I bit my lip and nodded, trying to look anywhere but at him. He lifted his hand to my face, cupping my cheek and stroking it with his thumb. I could feel his eyes boring in to me and could see a smirk spread across his face in my peripheral.

"Are you afraid of me?"

I took a moment to regain control of myself before answering; "not usually, but at the moment you're acting a little... Worrying... It's not you I'm afraid of, it's what you could potentially do."

"And what would I do, may I ask?"

I shrugged; "I don't know, this is why I'm on edge."

His smirk grew as he pulled my face closer to his, until our lips met in the middle. It started off gentle and nice, but after a few moments, once I'd sunk into it he grabbed the back of my head and made the kiss forceful. As an involuntary response, my hands began flailing. Severus grabbed them and pulled them round his waist, before grabbing my face again. I was feeling even more uncomfortable than I had a few moments ago. He pulled us up and forced me over to the wall, pinning me against it. He was completely dominating me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was afraid he wouldn't know when to stop. I pressed my hands up against his chest, trying to push him away but he was too strong. I couldn't even pull my face away because he had a tight hold on it. I squirmed about as much as possible hoping he'd at least get annoyed enough to stop. Eventually it worked. Still pinning me to the wall, Severus pulled away and glared at me.

"Now what?"

I looked at the floor and shrugged; "I just wanted you to stop."

"Why?"

I shrugged again; "I just..."

"Just what?"

"...I just didn't like it."

Severus sighed loudly and pushed himself off me, slumping down in his chair. Even though I hadn't done anything, he managed to make me feel guilty. I held my arms across my stomach and chewed my lip.

"Sorry..."

He pulled himself up to his desk and picked up his quill; "sorry for what?"

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see; "I don't know, for... Stopping you, I guess?"

"You don't even know what you're sorry for! You just throw it around, it doesn't even mean anything coming from you any more."

"What? I've said sorry twice! Once just then, and when I told you about Draco! At least I apologise when I'm in the wrong! Even when I'm not, because I don't like the conflict!"

Severus turned round, a scowl plastered to his face; "apologising doesn't mean anything, it just points out you're aware you're in the wrong! You're yet to actually show me you're sorry!"

"How? Having sex with you isn't going to change anything! You'll still throw it back in my face any opportunity you get!"

"You shouldn't have fucked this up then!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

I edged around the room, he followed me intensely with his eyes. I only needed to get to the door so I could leave, but I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"Of course not, it was an accident, nothing's ever your fault, I forgot, everything's my fault. I'm the one who was mean to you, I'm the one who drove you away. You're not to blame at all."

"I'm not going through this again Severus. I explained myself, can we just drop the reasons that I did it?"

"Of course we can't! That's the most important part! You cheated on me and you don't even have the grace to tell me why! Do I mean literally nothing to you?"

"No, you mean so much to me, but right now I can't win! It doesn't matter how much I love you because you hate me right now!"

"I don't hate you, I'm hurt! Do you not think about what this is doing to me?"

"Yes, I have considered your feelings, but you don't seem upset, or even angry, you just seem hellbent on making me feel like shit! So long as you get your payback, it doesn't matter!"

I finally made it to the door, I felt around for the handle before pushing it open.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Common room, I can't be around you right now!"

"Fine, off you go, run away from the problems. I bet in ten minutes I'll just find you in Draco's bed anyway!"

I was going to shout at him more, tell him he was being unnecessarily cruel, but I needed to get away more than I needed to tell him off. I grabbed my things and ran out, not wanting to look back. I ran up the corridors, ignoring everything and everyone I passed. I finally got to the Ravenclaw common room, quite a few people were there, milling around, reading and talking. I marched past them all and went up to my dorm, hoping it was empty. Unfortunately, everyone was in. Celeste, the twins, and the other girl who shared a room with us. I sighed and slumped down on my bed, hoping they'd at least leave me alone. Once again, my wish didn't come true. Celeste put her textbook down and turned to face me. However, she didn't look like she was going to taunt me about anything.

"Lenore. Are you all right?"

I looked at her sceptically; "...No."

"Oh... Do you want to come study with us? We're doing our Transfiguration essay."

"Oh, I've already done it, with, Hermione... Do you need any, help?"

The twins smiled at me; "please."

I watched them all suspiciously out of the corner of my eye as I grabbed my bag and pulled out my Transfiguration work.

"Is anything the matter? Do you, not want to study with us?" Celeste asked.

"I'm just a little, dubious as to why you want to study with me."

Celeste sighed and shared an uneasy glance with the twins; "Hermione talked to us earlier, I say talked, she shouted at us. For being shitty friends. How who we're going out with has nothing to do with who you can be friends with and all that. And, we feel awful Lenore, we've been the worst friends ever, and we want to make it better."

I nodded and looked at everyone. The twins had the same pitying looks on their faces. I decided to believe them for now, and ask Hermione about it tomorrow when I saw her in Ancient Runes. We worked surprisingly harmoniously, it was almost like old times, and they managed to take my mind off Severus, if only for an hour or two.

I woke up the next morning to the loud bang of thunder. It seemed to wake up the other girls too. It wasn't difficult to tell this was going to be a miserable Saturday, at least weather-wise. It was dark outside, the only light were the occasional flashes of lightening across the sky.

"Morning girls," Jade mumbled, rolling out of bed and stretching. We all mumbled a response. Celeste pulled the covers over her head and curled up. I sat up and looked at my clock, it was only eight in the morning. I groaned and rolled out of bed too. I managed to snag a shower before any of the girls and made my way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Judging by the large amount of students also in the Hall, I guessed the storm had woken other students too. Some of the first years looked a little shaken, there hadn't been a storm this bad since the beginning of the year. A couple of the teachers were going round telling them to not be afraid and to try and stay from high places and the towers.

"Easier said than done, some of common rooms are at the top of towers!"

I turned round to see Hermione and Ginny Weasley walking past my table. I jumped up and stopped them.

"Hermione, hi, Celeste and the twins said you'd spoken to them..."

Hermione smiled; "yeah, I told them to stop being terrible friends, and there's no reason for them to be so mean... Why, did they say something to you?"

"They asked me to join them studying."

"Oh that's good, what were you studying?"

"Well, I was helping them with Transfiguration..."

Hermione laughed; "are you busy today? I have some Ancient Runes to do."

"Sure, I have nothing planned."

"After dinner? The library's usually empty around then, hopefully this storm will clear though..."

I nodded; "sounds good... Have a good morning."

Hermione and Ginny smiled; "you too."

I sat back down and helped myself to some food. I sat alone for a while, drinking cups of tea and reading the Daily Prophet until a nice smelling Slytherin sat next to me.

"There appears to be a storm outside, did it wake you?"

I smiled at Draco; "no, I slept like a baby."

Draco laughed; "good evening? Did Snape... Behave himself?"

I sighed, I hadn't seen Snape since last night and he'd actually left my mind; "no, of course not."

Draco sighed too; "what did he do?"

"Doesn't matter at the moment, have some breakfast, then we'll talk."

He nodded and grabbed some toast. We sat in an awkward silence, watching each other drinking and eating, until he grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the Hall. We walked outside to the courtyard and sat underneath a large archway, protecting us from the rain.

"So, come on, tell me," Draco said, nudging me. I smiled and nudged him back.

"Well... I don't know, he just wasn't himself... He forced himself on me, then I pushed him off and he blew up on me. Shouting about how I never mean sorry when I say it, and how I slept with you on purpose to mess things up with him..."

Draco sighed and put his arm round me, pulling me into a hug; "he's a dick... You deserve so much better..."

I sighed too ; "don't, Draco."

He nodded and wrapped his other arm round me, pulling me onto his knee. I snuggled up to him, wrapping my arms round his neck. I knew it looked extremely dodgy to outsiders, and I knew Severus would go mental if he saw us, but at this moment I didn't care. Draco was one of the only people who was there for me, and snuggling up to him was the most comforting thing at the moment.


End file.
